Ryan Laird's Blog

New look Google Calendar - PLEASE revert back to "Classic" look!

2012-02-08T18:26:00.000Z

If any Google employee actually reads this, I would like to add to the clamour and make a few comments about the new look Google Calendar:

1) The implication of the way this has been introduced (and the withdrawal of the Calendar classic look) is that we, your users, are wrong and that the Google Calendar designers are right and the changes are indeed "improvements" as your Google Calendar blog suggests. I have long been a fan of Google's web apps and over the years have welcomed many of the visual and functional changes that have been introduced. When they help usability, they are not "frustrating", even if there is a learning curve involved. But most of the new look Google Calendar changes are crudely done, and a huge step backwards in usability.

2) JUST ONE EXAMPLE: Given that you, a Google employee, may read this and might possibly be in a position to pass the message on to the development team, please let me take this opportunity to highlight just one of the many usability downgrades to Google Calendar that the new look has wrought.
If you select RED (that's the 3rd colour along the top row of the 5x4 colour grid) as the colour for a particular calendar, the text colour is black. This is virtually illegible. It is childishly obvious that a darkish background like shade of red should have a contrasting colour for the text (white is the obvious choice) so that it is easily legible against the dark background. How can this sort of blunder get through your supposed testing? It beggars belief. The same thing applies for other darker colours like blue (that's row 3, col 4 in the grid). .

3) In other efforts to provide you with feedback, I have completed the survey and have tried to give feedback via the "Send feedback" button. The Send feedback experience is less than ideal and it is therefore much easier to comment in the Calendar help forums. Let me qualify that last statement. It USED TO BE much easier to send feedback via the Calendar help forums but now that Google Groups has been "improved" with the new look, it has become slow, buggy (with Unresponsive script error messages appearing) and often unintuitive. If you find that hard to believe, try opening this page in Chrome which is a long discussion with most of the participants disliking the new look.:
http://groups.google.com/a/googleproductforums.com/forum/#!category-topic/calendar/new-ideas/Xy22AJBCfkI
The new look Google Groups is absolutely awful and there doesn't seem to be a forum to report this.

I have taken time out to write this because I feel it's important that you take note of your users' criticisms. A passing glance at the forums will show you how annoyed we are with all this. We want to use Google Calendar but if you keep foisting these sorts of changes upon us and don't communicate properly via the forums, then you will eventually drive away your loyal users. A few words go a long way to reassure your users that their pleas are not being made in vain. Come on, Google, you must be able to do better than this!

Are student unions a waste of time?

2012-02-01T01:17:00.000Z

From Kent Union:

On 19 Jan 2012, at 12:01, Elections wrote:

You can be a leader of a ten million pound plus organisation
You can be a political leader of an organisation that makes positive change for almost 20,000 people
You can be one of approximately 700 out of 300,000 students who leave University each year who can say they have hands-on strategic, political and financial experience of running a charitable organisation

As long as you are a current University of Kent student who hasn’t opted out of being a member of Kent Union then you can run to be one of the five leaders of Kent Union for the 2012/13 academic year. It doesn’t matter if you're involvement to date has been voting – we have a number of support mechanisms in place to offer you all the support you need to run an excellent campaign.

The role is full time, you get an annual allowance of circa £18,000, training and support from the organisation in helping you meet your own personal objectives as well as helping you gain useful skills for prospective employees and the opportunity for a once in a lifetime experience. You will gain skills that other people may not obtain for decades.

For more information about the roles or to put yourself forward go to: www.kentunion.co.uk/elections before the 16 February 2012 5pm.

Or come join us for some Coffee & Cake at one of the below Interested Candidates Meeting:

Friday 20th January @ Woody’s, 12pm to 2pm
Tuesday 24th January @ Woolf College Common Room, 5pm to 7pm
Monday 30th January @ Rutherford Bar, 12pm to 2pm
Friday 8th February @ The Library Café, 1pm to 3pm

Also if you know someone who you think could be good at one of the roles we’ll email them. Just let us know who they are at: http://www.kentunion.co.uk/elections/recommend/

If you have any questions then please contact the Kent Union Elections Team at elections@kent.ac.uk

-- To stop receiving messages from Elections by email, click the link below. You can still read the message in the Message Centre, and change your preferences in the Contact Options area. http://www.kentunion.co.uk/unsubscribe/a4a9755c-32c4-47f9-bd1e-f4fb91d8279b/66a4ecae-97f0-40aa-a013-034523005269/

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My response:

Dear Kent Union,

When will you stop flooding my inbox with annoying e-mails?

How about becoming a candidate, you ask? Why should I bother? Well...

Nationwide, on average, only 12% of students vote in student union elections. If only we could abolish these absurd institutions and use the money more usefully instead-- perhaps for scholarships for smart applicants. Kent Union "makes a positive change for almost 20,000 people" you say? I think you really need to get over your egos.

The fact that so few people vote should tell us that frankly, most students are HAPPY. They're not persecuted. They don't get abused. They might be a bit miserable about the level of work, but that's it.

The general standard of political commentary on the Kent Union website is so bad that even *I* could do better (and I am a scientist). It reads like a B-grade A Level politics. 12%, though? Hardly a mandate.

Tell me, what DO student unions do that couldn't be done just as effectively by either:

a) The university

b) Volunteer students?

I could even forgive the Unions in all the stupidity I described, if they didn't insist on talking as if they REPRESENTED the students.

Whatever silly child is supposedly in charge of the Union here for this year certainly doesn't speak for me. I don't care about him/her, or what she does. They are welcome to give me their opinion, but I'll probably reject it-- frankly, I imagine I know more than them and can make a better decision. Arrogance, perhaps, but at least it's my choice to be. Speaking for myself, you see.

You can't claim to represent a group when only 12% of the group voted and perhaps half of them voted for you. 6% of a group supporting you does not give you the right to speak on the behalf of the group.

Frankly, I don't see that there's a need for student politicians. I CERTAINLY don't see that there's a need to pay some of them more than £18K/year. (Some) workers need unions... but students? Why on Earth do students need unions? A student is a cross between a schoolchild and a customer. Students unions should NOT have full-time employees. The wages of officers is outrageous, and is a complete waste of money. Each one of those officers, who sit around all year doing precisely shag all, costs far more than a PhD student for a full year's stipend. Ridiculous! If people want to play around at pretend politics, and cry or moan about non-issues, then it should be on a purely voluntary basis.

There is no possible way in which a person can exaggerate when it comes to describing the magnitude of my dislike towards Kent Union. My thoughts towards it and its employees are unpleasant.

Two typical examples of non-issues:

1: The 'Coke ban'. The union actually allowed a movement to be voted upon in an attempt to ban coka cola on campus (this actually got through, at one university - I don't recall which, but I'd seen it with my own eyes). This would mean no coka cola products at all could be served on campus. Why? Because crazy hippies felt that coke is evil. Enough said, People actually get PAID a WAGE to deal with these issues. Why?

2: The worst I've ever heard of - the 'gender non-specific toilet'. Kent Union paid for the installation of a gender non-specific toilet in the night club. What is this thing, you ask? It's an extra toilet with neither a male or female label, for those on campus who wish not to be identified as being either male or female, as they don't like to be labelled. Yes. I am serious. What is it used for? Well, it's a disabled toilet in a night club, so, naturally, it was a waste of money because it's simply used by people who want to sneak off and have a quicky in the toilet.

I wouldn't mind Student Unions as much if they actually seemed to have any power as a Union. Certainly at Leicester, it seemed that the SU would automatically cave to anything the University itself said, might just as well have been part of the University itself.

If you had an "Abolish the Union and use the money for scholarships" box, I'd be all for ticking that. I'm sure many people would also be behind that.

Sure, I accept there's a need to manage student feedback to courses, and so on, but course representatives exist for that (and, frankly, what students think of a course is mostly irrelevant). I accept there is a need to arrange entertainment and whatnot, for those that want it. There are plenty of club social secretaries who do that work as a volunteer basis, though. No need for a paid job there.

Campaigning for equal rights for <>? Well, it tends to be student NEWSPAPERS and not politicians that do the most of that.

Helping new students settle in? That's all easily possible to do with volunteers. "Anyone willing to wear a brightly coloured T-shirt and help the new kids settle in?". Job done.

There *is* a need for course representatives and social secretaries and whatnot. Fine. If you have them, you might as well elect them. Fine. It's just a glorified "Form Captain" or "Head Girl" anyway. I'm just saying that that is the LIMIT of what student bodies need to do.

Beyond that, they're just an excuse for irritation self-righteous cretins who enjoy the sound of their own voices far too much to feel self-important about things that don't really matter-- and do it by wasting money that could directly go to far better causes: Scholarships to ensure the worst-off can get through university.

So, please, please stop acting all self-important. Stop sending e-mails about non-issues. Do something constructive and start REPRESENTING your students. You say "We are the voice of all students at the University of Kent; we represent our members to the University, the communities in which they live and to wider society through our membership of the national student movement." Start acting on this! 12% is hardly a significant percentage to claim you represent "all" students. Start to show you have some balls, assert your power as a Union and show you are using OUR money wisely.

Ryan Laird

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I await Kent Union's response.

The price of convenience - is it always worth it?

2012-01-15T18:25:00.002Z

I was thinking it'd be nice to have all my music, podcasts and some videos in one place. I have been pondering that for a while.

I have a 4GB Creative Zen and that is great - especially as it has an SD slot for extra storage. It plays videos, stores photos and even syncronises contacts and your calendar. The caveat though is that extra music storage won't carry on playing on an SD card, unlike when it is stored on the player.

When I think of it, most of the time I will listen to music on either my computer or Spotify. I'm not one of these people who ALWAYS has to be playing music while out in public, unaware of my surrounds. Just sometimes it is nice to have everything at the touch of a button.

I have often wondered whether the price of convenience is worth it. I remember when growing up, you had to decide on a select number of cassette tapes - typically 30 or 45 minutes each side, and then you couldn't skip ahead to the next track without winding forward randomly. Then we had to choose among our CD collections - a great capacity album, yet still could be a bulk to carry.

Now we have MP3 players which are so small one could easily swallow one e.g. the iPod nanos. 4GB just doesn't seem enough now, but yet I wonder is it really a trouble to delete and transfer files between my computer and MP3 player? When I think of what we had to do just 15 years or so ago, it is far more convenient - yet is £112+ worth it?

As a friend said to me from her experience, iPods really are awesome - although I have managed without one for the last 11 years. I am an avid music fan although I do manage well with Spotify, Last.fm, occasionally Grooveshark - but mainly my own iTunes on my computer. I don't wish to become a total social recluse in public. Where I do enjoy listening to music outdoors occasionally, there is nothing better than taking in the sounds of nature and atmosphere of a place - whether it be town, city or village.

Really, what is the price of this convenience? £112 might be a fair price for a second-hand 120GB iPod (as seen in the retail shop, CEX), but perhaps one loses the value of much, much more...?

Rant over.

Couch to 5k

2012-01-15T10:09:00.001Z

One of my new year's resolutions has been to get fit and lose weight - I am sure like many hundreds and thousands of people. I started back at work on Tuesday 3rd January like most other Brits. Adjusting to work after a long holiday break was a priority. Too easy was it to ignore this promise to myself about getting active.

So, a week passed. I said I'd give myself that time to recuperate and get back into work. Monday morning - nah, I'd sooner hit the snooze button. On Tuesday morning I had a driving lesson at 8am, so I needed to be up. As it so happened, I woke up at about 6pm and I knew if I didn't get up then, I wouldn't get up for 8am and my driving lesson. I remember reading something on in the newspapers on Monday morning which said along the lines that 'today is the day most people will give up their resolution'. I remembered that on Tuesday morning and I was defiant I wouldn't be one of those people. So, the perfect excuse to start running and get active, proving to myself I could do this.

A while ago, I had heard of this "Couch to 5k" series of podcasts (downloadable here) from the NHS, aiming to get just about anyone off the couch and running 5km in nine weeks. I thought I'd set myself the challenge.

Tuesday morning, I got my MP3 player ready. Unfortunately as I got going, I forgot that when I store media on my SD card (which I did) that the MP3 player stops. Instead I should have stored it directly on the player. Never mind though, I got running. If I say so myself, I didn't do so bad. I thought I'd take it easy on flat ground initially, build that up and then take it easier downhill, then finally finish with a more intense uphill run. That is what I did around campus.

Later, a work colleague told me of a website called Runkeeper. The great thing about the site is you can track your progress through posting the different activities and plotting the route you take. Runkeeper will show the elevation you took. What is better still, is if you have a smart phone, there's an app which links to the site and tracks your position via GPS when you undertake an activity. That will monitor your pace throughout on top of automagically plotting your route with elevation, along with your running time. It will give you all the stats for that run.

Here is the route I took on Tuesday morning:

On Friday, I did a more intense run:

That route was much tougher than I can currently handle. The biggest problem was the steepness of the hill, which you can view here. I tried "Couch to 5k" but it was really hard given the great variations of elevation which, being a podcast, it doesn't take account of. I need some middle ground. By no means was the first run easy. It challenged me, but I need to build from there and then perhaps I can more easily run Friday's route.

The really nice thing about Runkeeper is you can look at a proposed route and consider the changes of elevation and how well you think you might endure them. Hopefully I can build upon "Couch to 5k", get more active, fitter and healthier.

As I said in my New Year's post, I am aware I have put on a few pounds over this past year and have become rather inactive. I joined the university mountaineering club after a friend/work colleague encouraged me to join. I haven't taken it so seriously as I ought to have done but I plan to attend at least once a week no matter what. I plan to go to the upcoming Pennines trip in a couple of weeks' time. This month, I am also cutting alcohol from my diet totally (except possibly, Burns' Night for some Scotch Whisky). I am not a massive drinker, but perhaps I was drinking more frequently last year. I'm also monitoring what I eat in a food diary and I am recording my weight every day in an attempt to lose weight.

You can follow my activities on my Runkeeper profile, here.

***UPDATE: Embed on Runkeeper site doesn't seem to work - even though I copied and pasted the embed code from the site. Apparently this is a common problem but in time, these embeds should hopefully appear. You can click the link in each of the embeds which will take you to the page. Sorry about that. That is really frustrating.***

***UPDATE 2: 1st Feb 2012 - I have exported all my Runkeeper data to another seemingly better site called Endomondo where my embeds should now work above.***

A great year for symphonic metal

2012-01-15T09:08:00.002Z

I'm not good with music trivia and I'm not claiming great in-depth knowledge of the bands I will mention in this post. I am a music lover, but I'm not generally so interested in the ins-and-outs of the particulars of the bands. I consider myself fairly open-minded with music. I'll listen to almost anything from classical music, to 80s pop, alternative, indie, classic rock and metal, but I do tend to dislike a lot of modern r'n'b, hip-hop and d'n'b (that of which I have listened to).

One of my favourite genres at the moment has to be symphonic metal; usually female-fronted symphonic metal. I have enjoyed Nightwish for many years now, but thanks to Lastfm and Spotify I have discovered in recent years some truly fantastic bands - sounds I could (forgive me) fall in love with. They meet my love of rock and metal with classical sounds and some amazing vocals. I'd call it a mish-mash of many forms of music I like - but it works.

As I said, I have long loved Nightwish - from their first album "Angels Fall First" all the way through to "Dark Passion Play". One of my recent favourites has to be "Amaranth" from "Dark Passion Play". I eagerly awaited their new album "Imaginaerum" in December and it really didn't disappoint. Their single "Storytime" was a great teaser to the album and much-anticipated film of the same name in which the album will be played.

What can I say about "Imaginaerum" but WOW! One could have forgiven Nightwish to play it safe following the great success of "Dark Passion Play", but no, the band have taken a great chance in many numbers but it really doesn't disappoint. You hear the band experimenting with jazz numbers, power metal, choir, orchestra, as well as Celtic ballad styles.

My favourite song -a very tough one as they all have different styles of music, most of which I like (above). But, "Last Ride of the Day" - wow! I'd probably say this is my favourite. Huge choirs, orchestra, heavy guitars and an amazing and uplifting chorus. It has it all. But more is to come...with a their second single with a new track (read below) and then the film at some point this year(!).

Last year also saw some great new albums such as:

Imperia - "Secret Passion"

Nemesea - "The Quiet Resistance"

I hadn't heard of Imperia until a few months or so ago. The band are less well-known - a symphonic gothic metal band with opera influences from the Netherlands. This is an amazing song, "Braveheart" from their last album "Queen of Light".

From their new album, "Secret Passion", I really like the "Touch of Your Hand". I still need to listen all the way through their new album, but from what I hear of it it sounds like a great band - a shame they aren't as popular as some of these others.

I love Nemesea's track "Caught in the Middle" from their new album, "The Quiet Resistance". Again, I need to listen to the album all the way through, properly.

At the moment I eagerly await:

Epica - "Requiem for the Indifferent", set to be released on March 9, 2012, in Europe.

Epica I have enjoyed for some time. I loved the band "After Forever" whose guitarist and vocalist Mark Jansen founded Epica subsequent to his departure. I could fall in love with their lead vocalist, Simone Simons who is absolutely stunning. Her voice in "Chasing the Dragon" from "The Divine Conspiracy" is truly fantastic.

but... only 8 more days until:

Lacuna Coil - "Dark Adrenaline", set to be released on January 23rd.

At the moment, I am hooked on their World Premiere music video of "Trip the Darkness" from this upcoming album:

They have also released a great new track "Kill the Light" on YouTube here:

Soon, we also have:
Nightwish - "The Crow, the Owl and the Dove", the second single the band's seventh studio album Imaginaerum. It is set to be released on March 2, 2012. It includes the unreleased song "The Heart Asks Pleasure First", music from the film The Piano whom Nightwish is processed and added vocals to.

I have my eyes on Ruisrock held annually on the island of Ruissalo in Turku, Finland. It is the second oldest rock festival in Europe and the oldest in Finland. Nightwish (Finnish) has been confirmed, along with the 90s band The Cardigans (Swedish). Looking at some tour dates for these bands, there may well be a gap for some to perform at Ruisrock. Who knows? It sure would be amazing to go there, even if it is just to see Nightwish. I await news of more bands attending the festival.

I'd say this past year has been truly fantastic for symphonic metal and more is yet to come. I just can't wait for what is in store given all the teasers I keep seeing, and what I have heard.

My reading list

2012-01-15T06:45:00.000Z

I find myself excitingly overwhelmed with the shear amount of new books I have either in print or on my shiny new Kindle. I had a £50 gift voucher of which I spent on some great classics, including (in no particular order):

Nineteen Eighty-four‎

George Orwell - 2004 - Fiction

Catch-22‎

Joseph Heller - 2011 - Fiction

Dark Alchemy: magical tales from masters

of modern fantasy‎

Jack Dann, Gardner Dozois - 2007

His Dark Materials Trilogy:

Northern Lights, the Subtle Knife, the Amber ...‎

Phillip Pullman - 2011

The Time Traveler's Wife‎

Audrey Niffenegger - 2005

A Christmas carol and other Christmas books‎

Charles Dickens, Robert Douglas-Fairhurst - 2006 - Fiction

In fact, I have started with "The Time Traveler's Wife" as I have seen the film, which proved to be interesting. I am already finding though, that Henry and Clare's story in the novel is much more fascinating. Niffeneger really brings to life her characters in the novel, compared to the film which seems to lose an element of that. The film always seemed as though it could have been better.

"Dark Alchemy" includes a number of shor stories by authors including Garth Nix, Eoin Colfer and Neil Gaiman. I'll more than likely read a couple of short stories at a time, in order. I saw this book on sale in Blackwell's bookshop on the university campus, fascinated by the preface and knowing of Neil Gaiman in particular. Gaiman wrote the episode "The Doctor's Wife", the fourth episode in the latest (sixth) Doctor Who series.

I am spoilt for choice among "Catch 22", "Nineteen Eighty-Four" and "His Dark Materials Trilogy". More likely I will move onto "Nineteen Eighty-Four". I am fascinated to hear about this character, Big Brother.

For Christmas I was bought:

Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2012‎

Tbc - 2011

The Quantum Universe:

Everything that Can Happen Does Happen‎

Brian Cox, Jeff Forshaw - 2011 - Science

The Doctors: Who's Who:

The Story Behind Every Face of the Iconic Time Lord‎

I am also reading "The Quantum Universe" which I say is presented very clearly by Cox & Forshaw, in what is quite an intimidating subject for many. I highly recommend it to those who want to get a grasp of the subject. Where I do have foreknowledge of the subject and a high-level mathematical background, I have been able to read through the first four chapters of it very quickly. The authors do break down the few equations that are in the book - the formulae used are not to an exceptionally high level of mathematics. I'd say the book is made accessible to those whom have no great mathematical background. The book does nicely guide the reader through the 'weirdness' of quantum theory. I think it does highlight however the necessity of how mathematics is so important to physics, as much as the subject is very well explained.

The "Brilliant Book of Doctor Who 2012" is effectively an annual of the latest series of the show. I wasn't sure what to make of it at first, but it is really packed with some great content. What I look forward to reading is that by the guest writers.

Being a fan of classic Doctor Who, as well as the revived series, I am curious to read "The Doctors: Who's Who". I have read mixed reviews of this on Amazon, so we'll see.

I am still to finish:

Moab Is My Washpot‎

Stephen Fry - 2004 - Biography & Autobiography

Stephen Fry really admires me as a character - hence why I bought this, his first autobiography. I did find myself rather hooked to this book, although I never managed to finish it. Fry talks about the first twenty years of his life, which for him was a great struggle. I have my own "baggage". This past year for me has been a very difficult one after losing my father and coping with an emotional turmoil of it all. After reading about the book some years ago and knowing of Fry's many struggles, I came across this again at a time I was going through many of my own. I somehow found it inspirational and felt better reading it, although somehow I never got back to it.

In fact, once I was one third the way through I knew I should buy his second autobiography:

The Fry Chronicles‎

Stephen Fry - 2010 - Biography & Autobiography

So, I have a lot of reading ahead of me. And I haven't even started on e-books yet....

As I said in my last post, I have a shiny new Kindle, the latest Kindle 4. I am really enjoying it at the moment as it lets me subscribe to newspapers, as well as store journal articles and download e-books. In fact, I am rarely parted with it. I shall comment about newspaper subscriptions in another post and possibly journal articles as well. Here, I shall talk about e-books.

Since I received my Kindle on Christmas morning, I have been fascinated by how many e-books are freely available. It is so very easy to download an e-book from Amazon's Whispernet. I didn't realise this, but many classics are completely, 100% free (and legal!). I have the Complete Works of Charles Dickens, the Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, Thomas Hardy's Complete Fiction - plus so many more. Over the holidays, I was fascinated by the film "Dorian Gray", a portrayal of Oscar Wilde's novel, "A Portrait of Dorian Gray". I have the e-book, so I look forward to reading that at some point. I have many classics I look forward to devouring, but for now, in advance of the film "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", I bought the e-book for only £2.70. I have heard great reviews of the Millennium Series. I doubt I'll be able to read the book before I likely see the film, but at least I should see what the book is like, to read on perhaps to the rest of the series. I also have my eyes on the Inheritance Cycle series by Chris Paolini but I have more than plenty to keep me occupied for the next few months at least.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-14T17:00:00.000Z

Well, it is that time again. Another year, another time where one can reflect and look back at a year passed.

For me, I will gladly leave 2011. It sure wasn't the best of years. If anything, it has been the hardest year of my life. I haven't said this publicly here - I have been getting to terms with it myself, but many friends will be aware that in December 2010 my father passed away. It really isn't appropriate to discuss it too much here, but as you can imagine, it has been very hard. I am an only child, my mother also has a difficult condition and I have felt the weight on my shoulders.

This past year, I really have felt my life has been a great roller-coaster. I have faced some really difficult personal challenges. Knowing what is best under these circumstances has been really hard. I have struggled with my PhD which didn't really get going afterwards through various circumstances. I have found myself torn in many ways, which is hard to explain to anybody who doesn't know me well enough. So much of this past year has been so very personal, but even those who know me I'm not sure understand fully the pain I have felt. Only now are things starting to turn around for the better, although the future remains uncertain. My biggest challenge will be getting through financial barriers which is my greatest worry.

I'd like to think that through my bad experiences I have become a stronger person. Who knows? I sure have had to be defiant in my ambitions. I have been made to see life a little differently, but that has taken a number of months to work through and even now, I ponder. Perhaps my confidence has been knocked, but 2012 is a new year. I have been considering challenges I should work towards; namely, a first author paper. I plan to focus much, much more on my work which is the ambition towards my intended career path.

I am aware I have put on a few pounds over this past year and have become rather inactive. I have already started this "Couch to 5k" running plan to help get back into shape. I intend to keep track of my progress using a website I heard called Runkeeper where one can post their activities in a sort of Fitness "diary". The great thing is, it lets you map your movements using an app on your mobile phone. That tells you the distance, time, range of elevation, average pace and route map of your activities.

This month, I am cutting alcohol from my diet totally (except possibly, Burns' Night for some Scotch Whisky). I am not a massive drinker, but perhaps I was drinking more frequently last year.

I'm monitoring what I eat in a food diary and I am recording my weight every day in an attempt to lose weight.

I joined the university mountaineering club after a friend/work colleague encouraged me to join. I haven't taken it so seriously as I ought to have done but I plan to attend at least once a week no matter what. I plan to go to the upcoming Pennines trip in a couple of weeks' time.

I am a little embarrassed to say this but I have never been to a big live concert. Anyone who knows me should know I'm not into massive crowds. I have a ticket to see Dream Theater next month which I am really looking forward to. I hope to see a symphonic metal band, Delain, in May. It would be awesome if I could get to Ruisrock in Finland. I really want to see Nightwish who are set to be playing there. Many of the bands I like either have released or will release an album before the festival, most of whom are Scandinavian/Nordic. I'll try to write a separate blog about that. I will be seeing the comedian, Jimmy Carr in a week, which should be fun, so a few things to look forward to.

I have no real travel plans at the moment. My focus has to be work which has suffered this past year. I'd like to visit Italy some day. I enjoy Italian wine, food, coffee and cars. I'm also very curious about exploring Roman history, as well as the astronomer Galileo Gailei. With uncertainty about the Euro, we'll see about that for the moment.

I'm enjoying things a bit more at the moment. I think what was much-needed was the Christmas break, the first proper break I had all year. It sure was great to see old friends and family who I hadn't seen for a long while. I know I felt exhausted about everything that happened over the past year. It is good to be back though. I'm looking to a better 2012.

Term hasn't yet started, so university is very quiet currently although that is all set to change this weekend. Postgraduate demonstrating will in part keep me busy. I'm enjoying my new Kindle I received at Christmas. I love that there are so many free e-books out there - so many great classics. I now have at my leisure: the Complete Works of Charles Dickens, the Complete Sherlock Holmes Collection, Thomas Hardy's Complete Fiction - plus so many more. In fact, I have so much reading material at the moment, it is phenomenal. I had a £50 book token, so I also have a number of great books there such as Phillip Pulman's "His Dark Materials" which I am itching to read.

Currently, I am reading "The Time Traveler's Wife" which proved to be an interesting film. I am already finding though that Henry and Clare's story in the novel is much more fascinating. Niffeneger really brings to life to her characters in the novel, compared to the film which seems to lose an element of that. The film always seemed as though it could have been better.

I am trying to preoccupy myself much more with those things I really enjoy and that enable me to enjoy life. At the same time, I aim to be more healthy and active. I'm looking forward to a trip to the Pennines with the University Mountaineering Club which will be in a couple of weeks time.

2011 really got me down big time, but I feel I am finally escaping the "hole" I felt I was in. "Things can only get better." - which leaves me with this, remembering the classic hit song by D:Ream (whose keyboard player was British Particle Physicist, Prof. Brian Cox)

Leaving Facebook

2011-07-04T00:32:00.005+01:00

Dear friends,

How are you doing? I hope work is going well and you are able to enjoy
the summer.

Some of you noticed my Facebook status. I have strongly considered leaving Facebook for some time. A few friends have done the same recently, so I don't feel completely alone on this. It has become a great distraction; at a time I am behind my PhD through recent (personal) events, I feel it is best avoided. I see why it has become so popular, especially among our age group. Those were whom it were focused on - students at university, as a way to connect. We have since completed our undergraduate degrees and I feel that many people likewise, use it less and less. I have found lately there is too much to filter through before I concern myself with the types of things I am interested in. I see Facebook as a great platform to share photos
and organise events. That was what Facebook mainly started doing, although in my opinion it has grown to such an extent it is out of control. Everybody these says seems to use it, especially as it does more than enable the sharing of photos and organising events.....and that is the problem. I find it worrying how we're all sharing our personal information on one site. I have been a Facebook user since around 2005 and I have seen it develop so much (not necessarily for the better). There are so many applications and quizzes etc., that it is pure overload. It is easy to be sucked into all this without realising sometimes, but I find it is best to pull the plug. Some say it is a matter of self-control - perhaps. I have ensured I have the
contact details for all those who I still want to remain "connected" with (mostly here). I'll take a much needed break from the site as I have deleted my account. I know I can find all these friends easily enough with the import features that are available. In time, perhaps I will start from scratch and keep to those I *really* want to be in touch with, more regularly. I don't see any real disadvantage of e-mail and for now I want to keep it simple.

I guess many of you have won the poke war! ;p Please feel free to e-mail me on this address from now on.

All the very best,

Ryan x

Orbital perform Dr Who at Glastonbury 2010

2010-08-01T04:10:00.004+01:00

Matt Smith appeared on stage with electronica group Orbital as they performed their rendition of the Doctor Who theme live at Glastonbury this weekend. Very little is cooler than this. Have a look:

"The game's afoot"

2010-06-23T12:31:00.003+01:00

KING HENRY V - Act 3. Scene I

Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more;
Or close the wall up with our English dead.
In peace there's nothing so becomes a man
As modest stillness and humility:
But when the blast of war blows in our ears,
Then imitate the action of the tiger;
Stiffen the sinews, summon up the blood,
Disguise fair nature with hard-favour'd rage;
Then lend the eye a terrible aspect;
Let pry through the portage of the head
Like the brass cannon; let the brow o'erwhelm it
As fearfully as doth a galled rock
O'erhang and jutty his confounded base,
Swill'd with the wild and wasteful ocean.
Now set the teeth and stretch the nostril wide,
Hold hard the breath and bend up every spirit
To his full height. On, on, you noblest English.
Whose blood is fet from fathers of war-proof!
Fathers that, like so many Alexanders,
Have in these parts from morn till even fought
And sheathed their swords for lack of argument:
Dishonour not your mothers; now attest
That those whom you call'd fathers did beget you.
Be copy now to men of grosser blood,
And teach them how to war. And you, good yeoman,
Whose limbs were made in England, show us here
The mettle of your pasture; let us swear
That you are worth your breeding; which I doubt not;
For there is none of you so mean and base,
That hath not noble lustre in your eyes.
I see you stand like greyhounds in the slips,
Straining upon the start. The game's afoot:
Follow your spirit, and upon this charge
Cry 'God for Harry, England, and Saint George!'

----

World Cup 2010: Brian Blessed's battle cry for England

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/world_cup_2010/8752379.stm

We have it all to play for! "The game's afoot"!

From a railway carriage

2010-06-20T22:28:00.005+01:00

FASTER than fairies, faster than witches,
Bridges and houses, hedges and ditches;
And charging along like troops in a battle,
All through the meadows the horses and cattle:
All of the sights of the hill and the plain
Fly as thick as driving rain;
And ever again, in the wink of an eye,
Painted stations whistle by.

Here is a child who clambers and scrambles,
All by himself and gathering brambles;
Here is a tramp who stands and gazes;
And there is the green for stringing the daisies!
Here is a cart run away in the road
Lumping along with man and load;
And here is a mill and there is a river:
Each a glimpse and gone for ever!

by Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894), "From a railway carriage", from A Child's Garden of Verses, published 1885

California: Part One

2010-04-19T22:34:00.012+01:00

Well, it's little over a fortnight since I was last in the US preparing for my return home. Wow, I can't believe it wasn't so long ago! Since that time we have had a large ash cloud grounding around 60% of European flights. I consider myself particularly lucky I am now back home (and on terra firma). I've been dying to write about my trip during and since then but time has not allowed there nor here. Now finally I can. :)

The couple of weeks I spent in the US went by remarkably quickly, though oddly slowly too and it seemed like I was there more like a month. It was a truly fantastic experience and one I will always remember. It was my first transatlantic flight (awww me!). It was a great opportunity for the benefit of my research and a great chance to network with those colleagues in my field. An important part of the trip was an observing run at Mount Palomar, near to San Diego, using the 200 inch telescope. It marked my first training opportunity for such a facility.

Being my first flight, I was not too sure exactly what to expect. I'm "used to" cheap airlines and generally flying on a Boeing 757, a much smaller aeroplane. I knew this would be a considerably larger plane but it still took me aback a little to the enormity it. The time aboard the plane was perhaps the most tiring. You can pass the time by so much with a book, a film, TV and music although enduring this for 10 hours in a contained environment is a little difficult. You try to sleep but it is difficult to. The most tiring but necessary thing is to stay up and then sleep at the destination's night time, meaning you spend over 24 hours with no/little sleep. It is fascinating but rather terrifying to think about the volcano that is causing all this disruption to flights at the moment. In fact we flew fairly near to Iceland (in Icelandic airspace) and there was a definite turbulence around there and we heard that is was an effect of the volcano from someone, although it was nothing to worry about. I have been thinking how lucky I am to be back home since the first announcements of the ash cloud causing such disruption. The most enthralling part of my journey however was when we passed over Greenland and at the time we passed over the country, the shadow of the glaciers gave us a fascinating display of landscape from our altitude. I really wish I took pictures of that but it can prove somewhat difficult to access belongings on a plane. *sigh*

The slightly annoying thing about the US was the requirement to fill visa waiver (ESTA) details not once, not twice but three times! First we filled out information on the website, then we ended up having to enter this on a display screen at the airport. After those couple of times we had to still fill out the same form to then hand to the immigration desk. It still confuses me to this day, why exactly we had to do that. Oh well.

So....I landed in the United States...and wow, what stunning weather. Most days I spent there the skies remained blue without a single cloud, the sun was shining and it was nice and warm (and mostly not too hot). One morning it really poured it down with rain and it seemed like prospects for the coming weekend for our observing would not be so favourable. Pasadena, where I stayed on the most part, is a great city with a good atmosphere and the surrounding areas, the views of the mountains and the palm trees were stunning.

A stop by The Cheesecake Factory wouldn't be complete while in Pasadena. After all, this is the company Penny (from The Big Bang Theory) works for and being a big fan of the show it was great to see.

The majority of my time was spent at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL). I am thankful to Prof. Paul Weissman, our host for the entire trip for his time while at JPL. I mostly spent my time preparing for our observing run. I spent my time in preparation for that, determining which comets are best observed for the time we need and generating finder charts for those. My job is pretty much leading to take hold of data from a large programme called SEPPCoN (Survey of the Ensemble Physical Properties of Cometary Nuclei) which will form the bulk of my thesis and this observing run was part of that.

On one of the days Paul gave us the tour of the lab. It was a privilege to be shown around by an experienced scientist how has worked at the lab for over 35 years to give me an inside tour. It was truly remarkable to see the facilities...from the control room to the clean rooms and exhibitions.

Control room for the Deep Space Network, the Voyagers, Cassini Equinox, Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter and SOHO, amongst others.

The most awe-inspiring things to see were a scale model of the Mars rover, Spirit stuck on Mars and the development and construction of the Mars Science Laboratory due to be launched in Autumn of this year. For Spirit, I feel it was such a rare opportunity to see a scale model of the rover at its particular angle on the surface of Mars - truly phenomenal.

To the left is a full-size model of the Mars Science Laboratory (also known as Curiosity) to be launched later this year. The MSL rover will be over five times as heavy and carry over ten times the mass in scientific instruments as the Spirit or Opportunity rovers! It will be set down on the Martian surface using a new high-precision entry, descent, and landing (EDL) system in a guided entry and parachute and thruster descent.

To the right is the Mars Science Laboratory under construction at JPL.

(See more of my pictures from JPL!)

As well as JPL, I was able to visit many other sites (too many to go through in one blog post). The most important part of our trip was our observing run at Mount Palomar which I shall speak about in my next post amongst other things.

To New Horizons (....and I don't mean the mission to Pluto!)

2010-04-19T21:07:00.006+01:00

So, finally I have a bit of time to blog since about the past couple of months. I can finally sit, think, and write about the past few months or so.

My PhD is taking over my life, not that I'm complaining. I have been really enjoying it. I've been working through my datasets and soon I will be able to start my photometry. I have had to put that aside for the time being though due to report writing, a literature review and oh yeah, a trip to the United States, to California where I spent a fair time working at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory and a couple of nights observing at Mount Palomar. :D I spent my time in preparation for that, determining which comets are best observed for the time we need and generating finder charts for those. My job is pretty much leading to take hold of data from a large programme called SEPPCoN (Survey of the Ensemble Physical Properties of Cometary Nuclei) which will form the bulk of my thesis and this observing run was part of that. So work has been rather busy but exciting. There will be more on my trip to America to follow in a separate blog. I have so many photos which I have already posted on Picasa and via Facebook but I really have so much to tell about this. :D

It is now getting a little strange I don't have exams any more! My housemates are all preparing for theirs. Is it weird to miss them? Maybe. I suppose it's the thought of having been examined for the last 11 years or so and now for the first time I'm not. By no means am I complaining! :) I have more than enough work! I guess now I really feel that I am really starting my PhD. America has given me a thirst for travelling across the continents and living the dreams I have had for many years; seeing the world, observing the universe and exploring different cultures. As I'm starting to write about my work I feel the pieces drawing together and that I am really along the road rather than at the very start of it.

I was delighted to have been short-listed for a Sir Arthur Clarke Award last month. They are extremely well respected in the space science community. Unfortunately I didn't win the award but nonetheless it was a fantastic honour to have been nominated for the student award. www.kent.ac.uk/news/stories/spaceoscar/2010 It was a great shame I couldn't make the UK Space Conference where the awards ceremony marks its culmination. Kudos to Áron Kidsi though for winning - it was well deserved!

Home is good. I'm kind of sad to have to leave as I explained in a previous blog. http://rjmlaird.blogspot.com/2010/01/time-sure-goes-quickly-when-youre.html I've secured a room in Woolf College for next year (although I do wish the university would tell you what room you have!) I will however need to find somewhere to leave between the end of June and September! I am told that you can't apply to campus accommodation until the start of June, despite even offering a deposit for somewhere on campus for peace of mind I have somewhere. I am reassured however that there will be somewhere but I am still not happy about this. Considering things are settling down (a little) after my trip from the US, a few phone calls might be in order! Grr, how I hate bureaucracy sometimes!

From one trip to another...albeit a slightly shorter one. I am looking forward to seeing a friend in Copenhagen for a weekend trip. It is almost going to be a flying visit. Then in August I plan to see my good friends Ania and Alex in Romania...I miss you guys! Before that there is a chance I am off to Chile to the European Southern Observatory (depending on funding) as part of my research and much closer to home, I am thinking on a related topic I might be going to Belfast in Northern Ireland for a meeting in June; we'll see. These next few months or will involve a fair bit of travelling which I am really looking forward to. (Well that's if we're not grounded to volcanoes and such like ;p )!

Canterbury seems to be coming alive more which is pretty cool. As the weather is improving and the nights are later some of the attractions are running now such as the boat rides and the ghost tours which I am looking forward to doing at some point. I should really visit the seaside by Dover and Whitstable although I guess having lived at one most of my life the attraction has sort of worn off. As I'm gradually getting (back) into photography, I'm particularly looking forward to seeing the white cliffs lit by the summer sunshine.

Canterbury is growing on me. Sure, there are a couple of things that would like to fall into place still, but I know they will. I know my situation is better than many others in the world – that is enough to make me feel thankful of where I am and what I am doing. I’m probably the most happy and content for the first time in quite a while now. I'm finally living my dream! :D

"LEISURE"

2010-02-20T21:23:00.004Z

Something reminded me of the following, this week. I remember it from old Yorkshire Television years ago now. I find it quiet a neat poem I thought I should care.

"LEISURE"

What is this life if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

No time to stand beneath the boughs
And stare as long as sheep or cows.

No time to see, when woods we pass,
Where squirrels hide their nuts in grass.

No time to see, in broad daylight,
Streams full of stars, like skies at night.

No time to turn at Beauty's glance,
And watch her feet, how they can dance.

No time to wait till her mouth can
Enrich that smile her eyes began.

A poor life this if, full of care,
We have no time to stand and stare.

By Wm. Henry Davies. (1871-1940)

Hubble Sees Suspected Asteroid Collision

2010-02-03T21:37:00.005Z

I was e-mailed this morning by my supervisor with something particularly interesting. I noticed this at a glance through my Google Reader last night, but I hadn't really managed to read through too much then.....but wow, something definitely worth reading about is this article by Science@NASA. I highly recommend them as they are an amazing news service for astronomy and well worth subscribing to in their newsletters, RSS feeds or whatever form you wish to obtain the latest information. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2010/02feb_asteroidcollision.htm

As you may know, or may have read in my blogs I am starting a PhD in comets, in particular, optical and thermal-infrared observations of cometary nuclei. David Jewitt, P.I. of these observations, is a legendry expert in this field and I have read many of his papers so far throughout my project. I find it particularly fascinating to see something big emerge here in my field.

The recently installed (as of 14th May 2009) Wide Field Camera 3 (WFC3) onboard Hubble shows the main nucleus of P/2010 A2 lies outside its own halo of dust. This has never been seen before in a comet-like object. The nucleus is estimated to be 460 feet in diameter.

"If this interpretation is correct, two small and previously unknown asteroids recently collided, creating a shower of debris that is being swept back into a tail from the collision site by the pressure of sunlight," Jewitt says.

I personally find this image truly amazing.

Right: A full-context view of P/2010 A2. Credit: NASA, ESA, and D. Jewitt (University of California, Los Angeles). Photo No. STScI-2010-07 [larger image]

The article is worth a read... so check it out! :D

Sorry Spirit, you're not returning home

2010-02-03T02:22:00.005Z

I thought this too good not to post as a comic strip...

Sorry Spirit, you're not returning home (see the full xkcd comic strip).

You couldn’t find a better tale than that of the Mars Expedition Rover, Spirit! The rover was designed to last only three months, but it kept on going for six years. In that time it has has kept fighting the many problems it has faced; however, it is now official. It's roving ability has come to an end. This is one challenge the could not beat.

"Spirit is still embedded in the area called 'Troy' on the west side of Home Plate. Energy levels for Spirit have been decreasing rapidly as winter approaches."
See http://marsrover.nasa.gov/mission/status_spiritAll.html#sol2151 for an update from NASA JPL.

The UK Space Conference 2010, 'TOWARDS A NEW UK SPACE AGE'-NCY

2010-02-03T01:40:00.002Z

Something that may be of interest to many involved/interested in astronomy and space like myself. Unfortunately I can't make it this year due to work commitments, but like last year I'll be helping out leading up to the conference.

Please see the following:

---------------------

Dear All,

The UK Space Conference 2010,

'TOWARDS A NEW UK SPACE AGE'-NCY,

Will be held at Charterhouse School from March 24th to March 28th.

The best speakers
The latest developments
A celebration of UK achievement in Space
An opportunity not to be missed.

Online registration is now open at.

http://www.ukspaceconference.org/

With Lord Drayson's announcement that there will be a new UK Space Agency the UK is entering period of major change. This is a period both of possibility and challenge for the UK Space Industry and for Space Research. We appear to be entering a golden age for Space based Astronomy and Exploration. The government has heaped praise on the UK Space Industry and are setting ambitious targets for future growth. However, the state of Government finances and the urgent need for a new generation of Scientists and Engineers mean that the new UK Space Agency will be launched with serious challenges and the need for decisive leadership and support from the UK Space Community.

The first day, the 24th, will be for School children, Teachers and the History parallel.

The Remote Sensing and Photogrammetry Society will be running a day symposium on Earth Observation on March 25th, along with the second day of Nuclear and Rocketry History.

Space Science, Space Industry parallel will run on the 26th and 27th with sessions on Space Policy and careers aimed at students.

The Space Education Trust Symposium for those involved in teaching about Space is on the 26th.

The British Interplanetary Society Human Spaceflight will be on the 27th.

Also on March 27th, there will also be the Sir Arthur Clarke Awards to celebrate significant achievements by individuals and organisations in the UK Space Community.

The Mars Society and The Planetary Society will both have sessions on the 28th.

There will be a Public day on the 28th when we will be inviting the general Public to come and see demonstrations, exhibitions and presentations on the successes of the UK Space Community.

With the government announcement that there will be a National Space Conference in 2011 it is possible that this will be the last UKSC held at Charterhouse. Whilst the launch of a new Space Agency and the possibility of a change not only of Minister but of Government later this year makes plans for 2011 at least susceptible to further change we should make sure that this years conference is the best ever &. Just in case it really is the last,

Regards,

DAVE WRIGHT

brohp2@aol.com

0151-281-1134

07813-651559

Confirmed Speakers include:

Mr. George Abbey Former Director of the NASA Johnson Spaceflight Center

Professor Richard Holdaway Director the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory

Lembit Opik MP

Reg Turnill ex BBC Aerospace Correspondent

British Interplanetary Society

Human Space Flight Symposium

Dr. Nick Patrick NASA (British) Astronaut
Please Nick s presence will be dependent on the schedule for STS 130 not being changed.

Dr. Wendell Mendell The Manager Office for Human Exploration Science NASA

Also appearing will be Dr. Helen Sharman

Space Science Parallel

Dr. Chris Castelli Head of the Space Science Group STFC

Professor Dave Cullen Cranfield University

Jeremy Curtis BNSC

Martin Ditter, Director of ESA Harwell

Dr. Dave Parker, BNSC Director of Space Science

Professor David Southwood Director of Science Robotic Exploration the European Space Agency

Fred Taylor Halley Professor of Physics Oxford University

UK Space Industry Parallel

Alan Bond CEO Reaction Engines

Dr. Craig Clarke Clyde Space

Neil Dunbar Astrium

Dr. Stuart Eves Surrey Satellite Technology Limited

Richard Peckham Astrium Chair UK Space

Paul Stevens DMC

Dr. Ronan Wall ASTRIUM

Remote Sensing and Photogrammetric Society (RSP Soc.)
and British Association of Remote Sensing Companies (BARSC)

Remote Sensing Day

Phil Davies SSTL and Vice Chair the Royal Aeronautical Society Space Group

Dr. David Hodgson Disaster Monitoring Constellation (DMC) and Chair of BARSC

Dr. Katherine Giles Centre for Polar Observation and Modeling University College London

Dr. Samantha Lavender ARGANS and Vice Chair RSP Soc.

Professor Alan O'Neill Director of the National Centre for Earth Observation

Professor Alan Smith Director the Mullard Space Science Laboratory

Time sure goes quickly when you're having fun....

2010-01-29T22:52:00.003Z

So, the end of another month approaches and the clock is ticking on my PhD. It is still very early days; nearly 4 months in - blimey. My PhD is obviously the largest thing going on in my life at the moment. I'm pleased to say it's planning out fairly well (at least I think so :-S).

I have some great opportunities lining up. Namely that our proposal for Palomar, California has been secured and we have been allocated observing time for a couple of nights then. This should prove a great experience, not only academically, but a great life experience too. I have never been outside of Europe which may be of a great surprise to many, but family circumstance etc has made this difficult. I can't wait for the adventures my PhD has to offer over these three years. Travelling is not the main reason why I'm doing my PhD. I love the subject of astronomy. It's been my passion for many, many years. I have a great fascination for the Universe. Being given the chance to use these great facilities, such as the 200 inch Hale Telescope is something I could only have dreamt of doing from such a young age. I cannot thank my supervisor enough for this great opportunity. I feel very privileged. I know there is much hard work I have to do in these coming months for preparation. These opportunities are quite rare.

I'm so far working through an old dataset collected as part of a programme I will have a large collaboration with as part of my PhD, SEPPCON (Survey of Ensemble Physical Properties of Cometary Nuclei). I shall soon be moving onto another dataset before I perform photometry. There is much work to do between now and then, but I hope to present something at the RAS National Astronomy Meeting in Glasgow in April. With the visit to Palomar at the end of March/beginning of April, that sure is going to be a particularly busy month or so. It might seem as though I'm moaning about the work, but I'm really enjoying it. I really can't wait to get proper results. This work should go towards my first paper, so quite exciting.

Home is good. Everything seems to be working out really well, despite us all being introduced to one another as complete strangers. The sad thing is that I will need to find another place to live soon. Our contract ends at the end of June, and what with student accommodation turnover I need to consider where I want to live soon. I don't want to leave it too late. I'm considering Woolf College, but in my mind that is the 'easy' option. The easy option isn't always the best option from my experience. I'd sooner live on my own full stop, settle in a place I can wholly call my own with no worries to have to move for whatever reason and I can have things more how I want them. Of course, naturally, with house-sharing you can't have things the way you might want entirely. By sharing with other people you do give up that right. I've been used to it over these years; it's not a problem or anything, but it's simply my feeling that I'm fed up of the hassle of moving. I miss having certain things that I sacrifice to leave at home.. such as my telescopes and my keyboard. I can't complain. I guess I feel more "at home" in my current house than I've felt since the start of my university career, 'moving away' in a sense from my hometown of Skegness.

Of course, not everything has been okily 'dokily' – it’s been part of that feeling of school days rearing it's ugly head I have largely left behind me. Throughout life I've learnt there are always people who you simply cannot communicate with; that being due to a number of reasons. Don't worry, I shan't bore you with the ins and outs. It's also the selfishness of some people that perhaps I shouldn't let get to me so much sometimes, but God darn it... if we are to make an appointment, don't cancel on me at the last minute for some abysmal excuse. I don't wish to concern myself over these people, so I won't.

I’m focusing on the people who matter most in my life. The people who are willing to listen to me when I’m down, and not only use me to rant to and ignore thereafter. Naturally, I have been trying to settle down in Canterbury and meet new people here, but perhaps I should really have thought more about those people who do really matter to me right here and now, rather than depressing myself sometimes over certain social 'inadequacies' here. My main focus is my PhD - that's why I'm here. I've just felt let down by representation for postgraduates with very few events held last term to meet those of a similar mentality in a different subject area. My colleagues are great guys, just one thing I've always been told about a PhD is that it can be socially isolating - you just need to make the effort. I feel I have made that effort, but that certain representations for postgraduates haven't helped. That seems to be improving now, anyhoo. :)

I want to try to catch up with my old Leicester buddies over the coming months. I miss you guys! Most people are so spread out around the country now, but many do remain in 'The Shire'. I saw my good friend Karen this week, after her graduation last Friday xx. She came from The States for what is now a rare visit. We visited Britain's Oldest Brewer in Faversham, about 10 miles away from Canterbury, as well as Canterbury Cathedral and a Roman Bath. There was little time to do anything else. A great shame! I hope to host many more friends - you are very welcome to visit and my door is open (within limits, of course! ;-) ).

I'm looking forward to a few things in the coming weeks... I cannot wait. Next weekend is the European Astrofest held in London. I have tickets to see Dr. Brian May (ex-Queen guitarist and astronomer) and Sir. Patrick Moore (once again :D). I have decided to go visit the Science Museum afterwards to see an exhibit I have been meaning to see for months but have not really got around to it since it's opening in July; the exhibit of 'Cosmos and Culture'. The following weekend I shall be attending a Northern lights flight. I'm sure I will have much to talk about. I plan to visit the Royal Observatory in Greenwich at some point in the coming weeks, especially as an old friend presents in the planetarium. Aside those astronomical ventures I hope to book tickets for comedy nights here; perhaps Chris Addison and/or Stewart Francis. I await notification with regards to 'booking' for tickets for Mock The Week. I don't mean to sound all egotistical or anything, but the point really is that I actually feel as though I am settling in these parts.

Anyways, I shall end it there now. I feel as though I am descending somewhat into a rant. Best wishes to all my friends and those important people in my life in various parts of the UK and the world.

Beyond 2009

2010-01-11T20:32:00.006Z

As I'm sure it hasn't escaped you by now, unless perhaps you're a TimeLord from Gallifrey and got the year wrong, it's 2010. It means an end unfortunately to the 'International Year of Astronomy', but now we are looking 'Beyond 2009'.

I can't quite believe that it's been nearly a year since the opening ceremony I was fortunate to attend in Paris. I met so many wonderful people there and have so many fond memories of our time together; many which I still hold dear to in many, many photos and recollections in blogs such as those from Boba, Suresh, my Macedonian friends (Filip, Tanja and Martin). Some of us keep in touch in some form, sometimes quite regularly. It was very nice to meet some of these people in Krakow for the 'International Conference of Young Astronomers', another great experience. I truly regard some of these people as 'friends' now, which I hope will continue for many years to come. We share a common interest amongst other things. I thank the Royal Astronomical Society for giving me this great experience with the invitation last year. :D

Much has happened this past year for IYA. The list is too long to mention. "As the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) comes to a close, the true scope of the venture is becoming clear. The final count of countries involved stands at 148, a staggering number that confirms that the IYA2009 network is the largest ever in science. Activities and events from these participating nations paint a picture of professional and amateur astronomers bringing the Universe down to Earth through countless projects, opening the eyes of the public to the wonders above."- I refer you to this news release: http://www.astronomy2009.org/news/pressreleases/detail/iya1001/

For me, the involvement I have had with IYA has opened my eyes even further to the wonder of the Universe. I have been fortunate to make many contacts along the way, which I am sure will add to my options of employment come a few years time, when I will have to decide exactly what my next step will be. (I'm currently thinking a postdoc, but we'll see how I feel after 3 years.) Anyone that knows me, knows I sometimes can't shut up about astronomy. It's a big part of my life! IYA has been a great mechanism to help inspire peope into the subject and realise their place in the Universe. The legacy of this great year I hope will remain for many, many years to come. Now we have a "Roadmap to IYA's Living Heritage". Let us continue our hard work and efforts to ensure we keep astronomy very much alive and active in much the same way we have done this past year.

In the UK various exhibitions and outreach projects are still continuing. 'Cosmos & Culture' is a major temporary exhibition at the Science Museum in London, running until January 2011. The exhibition will explore how people of many different cultures have studied the cosmos and how this has shaped our perceptions of the Universe - and of ourselves. 'We Are Astronomers' is continuing to screen across the UK at the Armagh Planetarium, Centre For Life INTECH Science Centre & Planetarium , National Space Centre , Our Dynamic Earth , Royal Observatory Greenwich and Spaceport.

Where for me the past year has been an ever-changing one; completing my undergraduate degree, applying for a PhD and various positions, moving and now starting a PhD, I hope to become more active in an outreach sense. It was difficult to do as much as I'd have liked last year in an outreach sense, depite it being the International Year of Astronomy. I very much enjoyed helping out at Space School UK at Leicester in 2007 and over the years,giving various talks for Leicester Astronomy Society. Now I am starting a new life in Kent and now need to find my way here a little. Having undertaken the Astrodome training last term I hope to be active with that once I am more settled. The Kent SEPnet Astrodome is one of Kent's most advanced mobile planetariums, enabling groups of all ages to learn about astronomy and space science in a fully immersive digital environment. I hope to start giving talks over the next few years to societies and various groups, particularly now I'm qualified as a Master of Physics with Astrophysics (Hons).

The Canterbury Tales - Chapter 1

2010-01-11T18:58:00.005Z

I can't quite believe quite how quickly time seems to have passed by. Now it's 2010; a new year, a new decade, end of the International Year of Astronomy, and for me onto new things - starting a PhD in Canterbury, Kent, doing something I've dreamed of doing for a long time to further my career in astronomy. I feel I've been given a great opportunity and I can't wait for what lies ahead. I know it will mean a lot of hard work over these next few years, but good things don't come for nothing!

First of all, Happy New year to all my friends and colleagues. The reason I haven't blogged is for good reason really. The last time I 'meaningfully' blogged was back in September, about the International Conference of Young Astronomers I attended in Krakow, and that was only just as I moved to Canterbury. I gave you 'The very start of the 'Canterbury Tales', telling of my recent move and the very briefest of first impressions. A few months on, as you can imagine a lot has happened. I'm now over 3 months into my PhD (very scary!!!) but still I am very much settling into most things. Where I feel nicely settled in the house, and that I am starting to get into some sort of routine with my PhD, it's still not 'Leicester'. I don't mean that as a bad thing to Canterbury or anyone here, but the change of environment is just far greater than I expected.

Returning home for Christmas was a good time to reflect on the last few months, in particular the lessons to be learnt from my PhD so far, and how to ensure a much more effective use of my time. My main focus over these months has been my PhD, and as such, my life has slowly been crumbling to make way for it. I've realised the demands of teaching, which I've gotten used to; the expectations of my PhD; and having absorbed the last three months I have learnt to block-book my time to ensure I make the most of this experience.

It’s been quite tough to keep up with real life activities. I've managed to fit in some comedy evenings at the Gulbenkian Theatre which have been quite good, including an evening with comedienne Sarah Millican (who has appeared on 'Mock The Week' and 'Live on the Apollo'). These are very different to anything I've ever experienced in Leicester. I look forward to more of these. Some of the highlights this term are Chris Addison (from the 'Thick of It' and 'Lab Rats'), Stewart Francis ('Mock the Week', 'Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow'), Jo Caulfield ('Mock The Week', 'Have I Got News For You', 'Never Mind The Buzzcocks'), Zoe Lyons ('Mock The Week' and '4 Stands Up' (BBC Radio 4)). I feel in this way Canterbury appeals to my taste of comedy more, having a circle of people in many of the few TV programmes I really enjoy. In fact I have applied for 'Mock The Week' tickets, so fingers crossed! I also enjoy the jazz evenings at the Gulbenkian, quite soon after work once a month, as they make a good change of environment. Plus, you can sit back an relax over a glass of wine listening to jazz, finishing of work if necessary due to free wi-fi across campus. I've found a good few things here, though slowly perhaps I feel I'm turning into a bit of an old man :-p.

Saying that, I've been listening to BBC Radio 4 a lot more recently :). I've always liked the Friday Night comedy shows, such as 'The News Quiz', but in particular 'The Now Show'. Now, I'm starting to listen more to shows like 'The Today Programme'. Maybe I am turning into a bit of an old man :-p. I got a DAB (and FM) radio for Christmas. I quite enjoy that I have well over 40 radio channels. It's amazing. I've started listening to BBC World Service which can be quite good, and more of BBC Radio 2. In keeping with 'the fashion' I listen to NME UK and Absolute Radio. For my love of rock/indie/metal, as well as 80s they serve quite well. As with any music on the radio, you just can get fed up of listening to the same tracks over and over, day-by-day.

It's the people that made it at Leicester, but I'm sure I'll feel much the same after 3 years in Canterbury. It's still very early days. Whereas I am still 'settling', I feel as though I'm finding my place with certain things such as the aforementioned. The fact also is that the nature of a PhD is very different to an undergraduate degree. It requires far more self-motivation, often also a good conceptualisation of tasks to be completed, so a need for good planning - perhaps something I have learnt at my cost a little. Now is a good time to reflect, to ensure a good start the new year and new term, and to ensure also that I make good progress throughout my PhD. I wouldn’t trade it for the world! I just wish I had more hours in the day. I guess a point here really, for anyone wanting to do a PhD is to make sure they are willing to put the required effort into it, and to be prepared to sacrifice a lot for it!

Hilarious GCSE Answers

2009-10-24T00:56:00.001+01:00

I came across this and found this rather funny, I thought I'd share.
God help us if this is the youth of today!

These are apparently genuine answers (from 16 year olds)

Q. Name the four seasons
A. Salt, pepper, mustard and vinegar

Q. Explain one of the processes by which water can be made safe to drink
A. Flirtation makes water safe to drink because it removes large
pollutants like grit, sand, dead sheep and canoeists

Q. How is dew formed
A. The sun shines down on the leaves and makes them perspire

Q. What causes the tides in the oceans
A. The tides are a fight between the earth and the moon. All water
tends to flow towards the moon, because there is no water on the moon,
and nature abhors a vacuum. I forget where the sun joins the fight

Q. What guarantees may a mortgage company insist on
A. If you are buying a house they will insist that you are well endowed

Q. In a democratic society, how important are elections
A. Very important. Sex can only happen when a male gets an election

Q. What are steroids
A. Things for keeping carpets still on the stairs (Shoot
yourself now , there is little hope)

Q. What happens to your body as you age
A. When you get old, so do your bowels and you get intercontinental

Q. What happens to a boy when he reaches puberty
A. He says goodbye to his boyhood and looks forward to his adultery
(So true)

Q Name a major disease associated with cigarettes
A. Premature death

Q. What is artificial insemination
A. When the farmer does it to the bull instead of the cow

Q. How can you delay milk turning sour
A. Keep it in the cow (Simple, but
brilliant)

Q. How are the main 20 parts of the body categorised (e.g. The abdomen)
A. The body is consisted into 3 parts - the brainium, the borax and
the abdominal cavity. The brainium contains the brain, the borax
contains the heart and lungs and the abdominal cavity contains the
five bowels: A, E, I, O and U (What the
*!!*???)

Q. What is the fibula?
A. A small lie

Q. What does 'varicose' mean?
A. Nearby

Q. What is the most common form of birth control
A. Most people prevent contraception by wearing a condominium (That
would work)

Q. Give the meaning of the term 'Caesarean section'
A. The caesarean section is a district in Rome

Q. What is a seizure?
A. A Roman Emperor. (Julius Seizure, I came, I saw, I had a fit)

Q. What is a terminal illness
A. When you are sick at the airport. (Irrefutable)

Q. Give an example of a fungus. What is a characteristic feature?
A. Mushrooms. They always grow in damp places and they look like umbrellas

Q. Use the word 'judicious' in a sentence to show you understand its meaning
A. Hands that judicious can be soft as your face.
(OMG)

Q. What does the word 'benign' mean?
A. Benign is what you will be after you be eight

Q. What is a turbine?
A. Something an Arab or Shreik wears on his head

You know you're an astronomer when...

2009-09-17T12:40:00.002+01:00

I liked this so much, I thought I'd share it on my blog. They're all so true! ^_^:

You know you're an astronomer when...

1. You see a bright star and know that it's actually Mars.

2. You know the names of specific craters on the Moon.

3. You know the significance of the phrase "Oh Be A Fine Guy/Girl, Kiss Me" or as we knew it in my high school astronomy class... "Oh Boy, A Fat Girl Kicked Me".

4. You know the difference between an asteroid and a comet.

5. You have a personal vendetta against the weatherman.

6. You know that Olympus Mons is the tallest peak in the solar system and which planet it's on (not Earth!).

7. You've spent the night with your significant other... watching a meteor shower.

8. You've changed the lyrics of "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star" to make them factually correct.

9. You know the phrase "a mere billion years" is not an oxymoron.

10. Someone mentions Jodie Foster and you think of Eleanor Arroway.

11. You've been in a debate over whether Pluto is a planet.

12. You know that Pluto really isn't a planet and shouldn't have been considered one to start (as sad as it may be).

13. You can give the mass of the sun, the average distance between the Earth and the sun, and the value of the gravitational constant off the top of your head.

14. You know the exact value of the speed of light.

15. You've decorated your room with a reproduction of your favorite portion of the night sky.

16. You've used Polaris to find the Big Dipper.

17. You know what NASA stands for.

18. A friend of yours thought you were studying Astrology.

19. You can pronounce Betelgeuse, Uranus, Charon, and Cassiopeia at least two different ways each.

20. You know the actual pronunciation of Uranus is "your a nus", not "your anus".

21. Someone casually wonders aloud how many planets out there might be able to support life you immediately think of the Drake equation.

22. You think the purpose of life is to study the sky.

23. You've ever wondered how much you'd be fined if you blew out all of the streetlights on your street so you could see the stars better.

24. You ask for a telescope for Christmas/Hannukah/Birthday/any other gift giving holiday.

25. You pronounce "Maria" with the emphasis on the first syllable.

26. While observing in the middle of the night in an open area, policemen come up to you and want to know what you're doing.

27. You race to the bookstore when the new issue of Astronomy Magazine or Sky and Telescope comes out.

28. You have Astronomy podcasts on your ipod.

29. You know every line to Apollo 13, and have possibly read the book.

30. Your heroes include Galileo, Isaac Newton, Albert Eistein, Johannes Kepler, Tycho Brahe, Carl Sagan, and many others.

31. You're incredibly proud of your 2nd place medal in the Science Olympiad Astronomy competition!

32. When you see a list of the zodiac and you get annoyed if they're not in the right order of procession.

33. If it's clear out and the seeing is good, observing takes priority over sleeping, eating, and tomorrow's midterm!

34. You pack more observing equipment than clothes for a two week vacation.

35. You'll stand outside for hours in the 18* weather to watch the lunar eclipse.

Join the Facebook group here to add yours or comment here.

International Conference of Young Astronomers 2009

2009-09-14T19:48:00.014+01:00

Logotype by Mariusz Slonina

Back in May, I wrote about the The International Conference of Young Astronomers (ICYA). Once this was advertised my eyes lit up for me seeing this another valuable opportunity to get in touch with other young scientists, with whom we might cooperate in the future. It would also be a good chance to establish connections there with scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers whom I could meet in the future and work together in projects which will develop modern astronomy. A good few of us from the opening ceremony of IYA, in Paris who have stayed in touch since that conference, mainly via a Gooogle Group, but with modern technology have managed to regularly keep in touch, as far as countries such as Venezuela, New Zealand and Indonesia, and now call each other friends. This event was something of a great opportunity for us all academically, where most of us study the subject, but also a great chance to meet with such friends it is normally difficult to see.

It was a great shame for us friends attending that it wasn't possible for some of our other friends to make it. It is understandable in many cases, due to the severe distance and price involved, as well as general complications of everyday life. It was sad in particular, that one of our friends who put hard work into a spectacular poster, at the last minute could not make the conference due to visa problems in his country. I must say, he was there in spirit.

Between 6th – 13th September we attended the International Conference of Young Astronomers, in Krakow, Poland; a scientific meeting of undergraduate and PhD students of astronomy and physics as well as more advanced astronomers. We, as young scientists, feel we should contribute our share to this year’s International Year of Astronomy 2009. For this reason we aim to arrange an international conference to broaden our minds and to discuss challenging issues of astronomy. The goal of the conference is to establish the ICYA as a regular conference, held once a year in different countries, connecting young astronomers from all over the world. Let's make it happen!

This year the ICYA was organised by the Polish Astronomical Society in collaboration with Polish universities (The Jagiellonian University of Cracow, The University of Warsaw, The Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań, The Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń, The University of Zielona Góra, The University of Szczecin, The Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences) and supported by foreign universities and astronomical societies as well as international astronomical organizations.

The conference was very well organised, with great talks from professional astronomers, those also from some students, a mix of undergraduates and postgraduate researchers, also 10s of posters were on display. There was a great range of talks, although maybe I am now slightly biased saying this, but my feeling was there wasn't as much planetary science and a dominance of high-energy astrophysics. I didn't mind it however, as they are equally as fascinating to me, but maybe personally it would have been good to see what other students are doing in the field of astronomy. There was a great talk by Michal Drahus however, on 'Microwave spectroscopy as a tool for studying the properties of active cometary nuclei', who by coincidence works in the exact group I shall be working in, and knows my supervisor well. I know it can be difficult to get an equal balance, and I think was largely diverse, with topics including also GRBs, AGN, exoplanets, space physics, cosmology and projects for the International Year of Astronomy 2009. These were noticeably split up very well, largely into sessions of these particular fields.

On the Tuesday, interestingly for an astronomy conference, we had an International Sports Competition, and by way of vote we played volleyball. Personally I'd not played this in years. In our group, largely us 'IYA' friends, we came a respectable 4th place out of I think around 10 groups. Good fun, though after lack of sleep I probably wasn't the most active in the group.

Throughout my time in Krakow, in particular at the conference I tried my best, within practical means of producing a Twitter feed about the conference, which you can search for under the tag '#ICYA09'. I only had internet access at the conference and that was a little temporamental unfortunately.

We had some good times, with tours of Krakow, a guided city tour, an open bar, also an amazing candlelit buffet, bonfire and free beer, wine and soft drinks all night at the Jagiellonian University!

Thanks go again to the organisers who did a remarkable job, who made this truly an experience many of us will never forget. :D

For more information about ICYA2009, visit: http://www.icya2009.org

Proceedings should follow shortly, as well as a photo gallery containing many of the pictures we took during the week.

My own photo album of the conference can be viewed here.

Clear skies ^-^

The very start of the 'Canterbury Tales'

2009-09-06T04:25:00.003+01:00

I'm just sat in Starbucks at Stansted waiting endlessly for my flight to Krakow, Poland and I thought I'd share a little piece here.

So, things are finally nearly sorted it seems with the house. After weeks of dealing through a painsakingly tiring process of dealing with the letting agency I have moved in! Thank you Jatin for your tremendous help! The house I feel is lovely and modern. I think it's a place I can finally relax, unlike being couped up in one room in halls with very basic facilities. My plan now very much is to keep work at work, and to relax at home. I have my room near enough how I want it. The kitchen is very modern and clean-feeling, and a great environment to cook in. The lounge has amazingly comfortable sofas. We have also a nice dining area/conservatory, so set away from the kitchen environment - nice to relax and enjoy food. The garden isn't too bad, maybe needs a bit of work, but a great environment if we want to have a bbq.

The house is somewhere set rather residential, between the city and the university campus and quite conveniently near certain walkways and cycle routes. There is so much I can't wait to do. I haven't been in Canterbury long, but already I find the amazing culture it has with the advantage of being a short journey to Belgium or France; the history with the many museums and sites, the "Garden of England", the proximity to both the coast and to London, and the range of comedy and theatre performances it hosts, in particular the Gulbenkian Theatre and cinema on campus which I am sure to attend regularly.

Most importantly I'm looking forward to the start of something new and challenging ahead, as much as I can't help but be a little nervous at the enormity of the whole thing. As soon as I return from Krakow I am due to start. My supervisor is in the process of getting things ready for me. It'll be so nice to have my own office space, as well as a new Macbook for conferences and observing trips. Already my supervisor is talking of submitting proposals, which as these run on 6 month cycles are due at the end of the month - one of the good reasons to start that bit earlier, to allow me to have a bit of an input if I can.

So for now things are largely on track for what I hope will be the start of many great Canterbury Tales.

A slight side....I shall be departing at 06.10am here to see my fellow young astronomers for our meet in Krakow. While I am there I hope to 'tweet' a bit, mainly during the conference with the tag "#ICYA09", so you can follow me there - my username is "rjmlaird" like my blog. Stay tuned as I shall be writing, probably a more exciting piece here about the conference in the coming week or so. ;-)

Summer update

2009-08-23T19:43:00.001+01:00

Hi all,

Well it's been a little while since I've blogged and with good reason. I've been rather busy sorting out the next stage of my life; a PhD in Canterbury at the Centre for Astrophysics and Planetary Science, University of Kent.

I went to Canterbury a few weeks ago to sort a place to live. Quite a strenuous affair. It was much a case of making the most of my time there, making appointments to view properties, all-in-all packing everything in as much as possible. I can only thank my supervisor who provided me with access to internet while there which was invaluable to search for properties online, to get access to the Kent Uni student forums and hospitality. After around 12 viewings I've thankfully chosen somewhere and I can't wait to settle in.

It's been a little manic since, sorting out paperwork, chasing people up and preparing for the move. I look forward to moving to what I feel is a remarkable city; the culture, the history and atmosphere. I recall walking down the main high street and there was a lively mix of music, little market stands, creperies and many museums, all of which I am yet to explore in detail. Over the 3 years I will have in Canterbury I am positive I will have a great experience there. Soon I will move and have that all to soak up.

It is sad to leave Leicester behind however. There are many which I am sure to miss, though hopefully many I shall still see from time to time. We all are moving on and doing exciting things, but we shall be sure to meet again. In fact I have many pictures which I mean to add to Picasa/Facebook though have not had both the time or ability to do it from home. I hope to do it very soon though. In fact I keep meaning to get some photos printed, though other things seem to have taken priority.

Meanwhile I have been trying to make the most of what will probably be the final time of living at home - meeting up with friends mainly and catching up with old faces. It's been nice just to relax a little before the next major step to hopefully be refreshed come the time I start.

Last week I visited my cousin in Wales and my aunty visited too; nice to have a few days there and enjoy the glory of the countryside. In fact it was a good time to capture some of the Perseids from an almost light-pollution free part of the country, all the way up the mountains in the middle of the countryside. On I went to see my good friend Karen in Bath where we spent the weekend visiting sites in Cardiff and Bath. We visited Cardiff Bay and went to the Doctor Who exhibition (Annemarie, I know you'd have loved this!) amongst others, and saw the castle, museum and Millenium Stadium. In Bath we went inside the Abbey and visited the William Herschel Museum of Astronomy.

...So, much travelling!

And soon I shall be on my travels again. This time to Krakow in Poland for the International Conference for Young Astronomers. I look forward to seeing some old friends from the Paris conference, and to better connect us young astronomers around the world and with professional bodies, as is the aim of the conference. I'm sure in the coming weeks I shall be updating on this quite a lot. It is sure to be a great opportunity.

In the meantime I prepare for starting my PhD in Canterbury. I look forward to starting what seems a very interesting topic and one I am sure will present some great new science. I shall be starting on 21st September, which should prove an interesting and exciting experience.

For now however I bid good night.

July rantings............

2009-07-03T09:35:00.011+01:00

Something I’ve done very little of lately is blogging; with good reason really, I’ve been busy sorting out odds and ends after the exams. I was busy trying to get my life in order; whether that be a PhD, job, internship etc, as well as try to get a summer job as I, like most students at the end of the academic year need money. All of this was a major panic and I think most in good reason, though perhaps inhindsight I worried far more than I should have. Of course this is a big time and it's important to try and get something sorted, but my goal throughout the exam period was to get the best possible grade that I could. Once I had the satisfaction of knowing my degree results things seemed a little more positive and I knew which directions I could go. The major worry was with exams, which as expected I didn't do as well as I had hoped for. Nonetheless I came out with a high 2.1 overall and that's really all I need to pursue with a PhD.

This was another concern, getting a PhD. With some poor luck with interviews the first time round I needed to put a second round of applications through around Easter, facing the possibility of interviews after the exams which was a concern as I knew things wouldn't exactly sorted on that front before then. With exams out the way I think I felt a little more positive of which directions to go with astronomy for a PhD and with less of a worry now with everything over I could just concentrate on these. I awaited news from Armagh, the Open University, UCL and Kent, as well as a position in Cagliari, Sardinia. Time pressed on but finally I got interviews. Deep inside me I felt the project on offer at the University of Kent, Canterbury is the right kind of project for me. Having had the great pleasure of meeting Prof. Mike A'Hearn, P.I. of the Deep Impact mission in 2005 it is a subject that is close to my heart, as well as remembering Comet Hale-Bopp in 1997.

The project is "Astronomical Observations of Comets at Optical and Thermal-Infrared Wavelengths" and will focus on Jupiter-family comets (JFCs), which are a subset of the known cometary population. Dynamical studies have placed their source region within the Kuiper Belt beyond Neptune, a vast reservoir of cometary bodies that formed in-situ some 4.5 billion years ago. Studying JFCs provide valuable insight into the physical and compositional properties of small Kuiper Belt Objects (KBOs), much too faint to be observed from Earth. I was really excited in particular about this project, despite having a good interest in the others. After speaking to the project supervisor, Dr. Stephen Lowry, as well as having some good e-mail contact the University of Kent offered me the position which I must say is a dream come true.

One major goal is to accumulate high quality physical data on cometary nuclei in order to make accurate statistical comparisons with other small body populations such as near-Earth asteroids, Trojan asteroids, Centaurs, and KBOs. I will be using datasets that include thermal IR imaging data from NASA’s Spitzer Space Telescope (at 16-22 μm), as well as optical imaging from many large ground-based observatories (400-700 nm). These optical observatories include the European Southern Observatory’s 8.2m VLT array (Chile), Palomar Observatory (California), and the 10m Keck facility (Hawaii), among many others. It is anticipated that I will participate in several observing trips. I just cannot wait!

So that's the PhD position sorted. Now I just need to find accommodation in Canterbury which should be fun.

Graduation is next week; Thursday afternoon for me. My family will be visiting; in particular my uncle, cousin and my parents. Something to look forward to. I get to dress as Harry Potter for the day, as do my fellow graduands. Before the ceremony at 3pm, we have the honour to meet Professor Jocelyn Bell-Burnell at a free lunch (my second time to meet her in fact).

I need to move out of accommodation by July 19th, when my contract ends. I'd hoped to get a job over the holidays although the prospect of getting a job to fit around various items to sort out over the holidays seems a little bleak. Moving to Canterbury will be a big change I'm sure, but for the better I believe. Not being too far from London but having the glory of the coast and countryside not too far I think will make this an amazing place to study a PhD as well as a great project and department. The concern is when exactly I will need to move. So far the start date seems a little uncertain although I am told the latest is 28th September. My worry is when exactly I would be funded with regards to rent. No doubt I will have to pay deposits. All these things I am sure will add up to be expensive. Luckily I now have sorted how I will transport my stuff between Kent, home and Leicester. I'm indebted to my good friends the Morjarias for a helping hand for a temporary solution of storage at theirs here in Leicester. Saves moving everything majorly twice.

Then I turn to home. Anyone that knows me well will know how I rant on about not having internet for long periods at home. I always have to use the public library and book time which gets annoying. 5 weeks or so with little internet? Can I survive? I just might have to. It's just that it's one of those things I think we all rely upon in our daily lives. I'm not too fussed about Facebook or Twitter. I'm sure I can survive those. It's just important e-mails that get to me which mean if I need to reply to an e-mail in length I need to book more unexpected time. Hopefully most important things will be sorted by then. It's just the ease and simplicity of access to information that makes my life a living frustration while at home, being the impatient person I can be. I don't have to worry about my stuff now which was a big concern as it's not going to be very likely I'll get a job for the short period of 5 weeks now. I think though this should be a well-earned break, with a bit of 'me' time. I have a good excuse not to have to use the internet I guess and I can sit back and relax a little for an enjoyable vacation before the world of work/a PhD approaches me.

Moving on, it’s been nice to enjoy a few real life activities. It's been nice to chill at a few friends' house parties, meet for drinks in the hot weather at Dry Dock, play pool, go for coffees, read a non-academic book and watch random videos on YouTube, amongst others. I've also had time to sort out the unwanted paperwork I have as well as organise bits that needed to be organised (far more than what I thought). I also have managed to dedicate a bit of my time updating my website every now and then, and hopefully to a good state in preparation to talk about my PhD project. I've also managed to do something I've been meaning to do for a while which is to organise and then upload all the pictures I collated from people from the ceremony in Paris to one place for everyone to access and upload themselves. I also managed to construct a blog like this for everyone to be an author and add/edit what they like. In particular this is meant as a means to help keep connected and easily see in one place what we all are doing for IYA.

Talking about IYA, I am looking forward to seeing everyone at the International Conference of Young Astronomers (ICYA) in Cracow, Poland. It should be a unique opportunity to establish global, annual conference for all scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers who could meet in future and work together in projects which will develop modern astronomy. It should prove to be a great networking conference, as well as to meet old friends from the Paris meeting. As luck goes, unfortunately another rather important meeting coincides. That same week is the astrobiology summer school at the University of Kent, Canterbury which may prove useful for my PhD project. I just have to see what might be relevant in each and see about going to half and half maybe. I wouldn't want to miss anything that may prove relevant to my PhD project, but also the ICYA should be a great opportunity also in itself.

Meanwhile I have to find accommodation in Kent, so a visit down there is in order and maybe to see family while I'm there. Who knows? I hope to enjoy the summer and relax for a change. I need it!

Anyhow, knowing the way things are going at the moment, I probably won’t get a chance to blog again for a while. Maybe I will have time to write a short bit about graduation, though it all depends on how things pan out.

Facebook rant

2009-06-22T18:10:00.001+01:00

It seems not a week goes by that I do not have to block some stupid Facebook application. Apparently everyone wants me to have a pet, be a vampire, receive a new type of bumper sticker, or support their cause. I am not totally innocent myself. I do join some Facebook apps and will invite friends, but I try to get people who might be interested.

The trouble with most of these applications is that they are cheaply made and highly buggy. I have some myself, a few I use daily, but they are quality made. They don’t randomly crash on me, and they do what they promise.

Facebook applications can be a great way for people to interact, show up some of the things they like, or integrate Facebook with third party programs like Twitter or Flickr. However, they are a dime a dozen and finding a good one is almost like finding the proverbial needle in a haystack.

I am all for social networking sites and the advancement of technology, but enough is enough. I cannot count the amount of vampire/werewolf invites I get. Not to mention many Facebook apps will send ad space to other cheaper-made apps. Then those apps will make you invite all of your friends before they work for you - not quite as bad now as it used to be.

I'm fed up of receiving stupid quizzes on my mini-feed. 99% of these I will hide or report as spam. I don't need to say to everyone quite how bad these quizzes are in terms of their quality; bad spellings, repetitions and today I have seen rather offensive material as well. I'm not too bothered about certain "offensive" material, as much as any other person, but I just don't think it's acceptable by any means. In particular there should be a way off stopping ALL applications being posted on the minifeed if we so wish. If we want to take a quiz then we should know where to take it and not be spammed with this content continually.

Like I said before, not all of them are evil. There are days some of my friends and I will use Facebook bumper stickers as our primary form of communication. I used to have my Twitter update my Facebook status out of laziness.

So next time you want to send invites to all of your friends to join your vampire army or if you want to post a quiz result to the minifeed, ask yourself: “Do they really care?”

Rant over!

We Are Astronomers

2009-06-15T19:22:00.007+01:00

We are Astronomers is an exciting new 360° Fulldome digital planetarium show launching 23 May 2009 across the UK. The show is being produced by NSC Creative with input from UK astronomers. It is funded by STFC, the Science and Technologies Facilities Council.

WAA Trailer 1 from NSC Creative on Vimeo.

We are Astronomers will be showing at the following planetariums (please check show times with each venue before you travel) :

Armagh Planetarium
Centre For Life
INTECH Science Centre & Planetarium
National Space Centre
Our Dynamic Earth
Royal Observatory Greenwich (showing from 17 October 2009)
Spaceport

Source: http://www.astronomy2009.co.uk/index.php/we-are-astronomers

Dark times, I feel...

2009-06-08T06:47:00.010+01:00

We have a democracy (and rightly so) and it has spoken. Dark times I feel for the UK though.

As many of you will wake up to this morning the BNP have gained two seats in the European Parliament. We should not continue to talk about this, just strongly reflect on the way this can affect Britain! Many people that I know sadly are unaware of the responsibilities MEPs have and the implications they can have on the UK and our place in Europe. It has very important legislation. I'm no expert on that but I know people who know nothing about European politics but perhaps they should.

I think there is a real need to educate the public from school age in a compulsory manner to how politics works in the country. In particular we should have a more informed system of what we are voting for (or not voting for). This should not be done in a way of inflicting opinion on any party at all of course; the role there should be for the politicians to promote their party how they see fit.

I think first however, we majorly need to clean up politics and that will be the way to put the faith back in politics. With such a low turn out I think MPs who have falsely claimed expenses should be ashamed of how they have helped to create such this distrust in politics, so people don't vote at all or they express anger by voting for an extreme party. We see the record decline in turnout for these elections. The turnout officially estimated at just over 43% was the lowest in the history of the elections. I think the expenses issues in the UK have helped overshadow the more important issues of the EU we face as a country, particularly with such a strong media coverage we have had.

The media I believe really needs to really consider its implications to the country as a whole, particularly with the ease of such worldwide communication and mass coverage, and particularly the BBC being what should be a "neutral" and fair source of news to this country. Last night's coverage of the election results by the BBC, in my opinion was a completely biased agenda with no hint of objective, fair or reasoned analysis. You expect some media sources to be biased, but not the BBC given the code of conduct we pay for it to abide by.

It really angers me the state British politics is now in, especially given the results of the BNP gains. They have a right to exist unfortunately, as we live in (quite rightly) a free democracy. We need to work with parliament to help ensure the public understand various religious faiths and cultures including particularly the common principles we share; very much the key points in President Obama's speech in Cairo in fact. I think we share these problems as a world and we need to do that fairly which is the big challenge we face.

Despite my feeling that there is no way a petition is going to shift a democratically elected party, I still recently supported the "HOPE Not Hate" campaign against the BNP by signing their petition I urge you to sign it here: http://www.hopenothate.org.uk !!!

People have voted for the BNP but if we are strong in our beliefs and are defiant, we can ensure we fix this 'broken' society and topple the BNP in future elections like this.

The time has come. The time is now. Just go. Go. Go! I don't care how.

2009-06-08T01:41:00.000+01:00

The time has come.
The time is now.
Just go. Go. Go!
I don't care how.
You can go by foot.
You can go by cow.
Mr Brown will you please go now!
You can go on skates.
You can go on skis.
You can go in a hat.
But please go. Please!
I don't care. You can go by bike.
You can go on a Zike-Bike if you like.
If you like you can go in an old blue shoe.
Just go, go GO! Please do, do, Do!
Mr Brown I don't care how.
Mr Brown will you please GO NOW!

By Dr Seuss, spoken by Daniel Hannan, Conservative MEP on 8th June 2009.

It's the final countdown!!! Dee dee doo doo, dee dee doo doo doo...!

2009-06-01T09:15:00.000+01:00

Well I'm coming to the end of my fourth and final year and I can't quite believe it. I have just finished my exams which is a big relief now. I think it's been a tough year, but enjoyable none-the-less. I think the projects have been the most enjoyable major difference, as much as they've been a lot of work. The style and format is very different to previous years, of course more work for one, but mainly that we have to present posters, give presentations and design a portfolio which probably have made the projects much harder than our previous years especially having little/no experience at these. Nonetheless I feel I accomplished these well and I hope I get a deserving grade. I've enjoyed in particular Directed Reading. I enjoy reading in general and I think it's been an important experience for sorting through material which may or may not be relevant and condensing down the important bits into a logical structure - I think a major importance for a PhD (which I hope to do).

Having more coursework has thankfully meant we have had less exams to revise for which I feel makes the difference. The level however we needed to attain for these exams I think was much higher, as was to be expected from 4th year advancements last year. Overall though I believe they went fairly well overall. There was one hard exam that everyone felt was hard so I do hope there is some compensation for this, though I doubt any scaling will show how I feel the exam could have gone. I guess that is the way exams go sometime.... but hoorah, no more exams (at least for now)!

I'm almost counting down the days until graduation. I can't quite believe it's here. It's been a very memorable 4 years. I remember 1st year and being summoned to a full-on 9.30-5.30 day, 4 days a week of lectures and afternoon practicals for most of the 1st term, though I guess in a sense that didn't really change much. University life has been something amazing. I can't quite believe it's nearly 4 years since I was in the Coppice, part of Beaumont Hall then and before it was refurbished. A lot has happened since then. Even back then the current arrangement of the department was very different, especially upstairs on first floor and we didn't have those comfy blue and black sofas. I think Pam will be the one person everyone remembers, the "mother" of the department, especially to the first years and making the department a friendly and welcoming place. Of course we'll all remember those funny lectures and those funny habits and quotes of lecturers we will never forget. In 4 years the university library of course has changed to be more modern and I think I will always remember it's construction. There will always be the memories of moments shared with friends, never forgotten; those drunken nights out, random things said to one another, silly incidences, parties and much more.

University has been an experience. Academically, Leicester has given me some great opportunities. I've been lucky to work in my department doing research for the past two years and through that have been fortunate to become co-author of several scientific papers. Also I've had hands-on experience with building a real satellite, worked amongst leading scientists of their field and forged amazing links in astronomy and space. Personally and socially I think the university experience has brought me out more as a person. Various experiences and circumstances have made me realise myself I feel, which I largely had not known.

Soon begins a new chapter in our lives and I hope it is a positive one for many. I have made some good friends over these years and I do hope I will stay in touch with many of these. Facebook, despite its idiosyncrasies in my view, for such purposes of staying in touch with people and finding lost friends I think is an amazing tool. I'm sure many people will go on and do amazing things and I'm sure there will be people we can look back on and remember during these good times, but also fondly during bad times as well.

Star Trek

2009-05-13T17:53:00.014+01:00

Following the 'Star Trek' movie, there have been various reactions about the movie and much talk about the future of the Star Trek franchise. As some of you may know, I'm quite a Trekkie and have been so for many years, enjoying TOS as well as TNG and Voyager mainly. I'm by no means a walking 'Trekopedia' unlike many that can name every weapon, every starship, every actor, character, director to each and every episode but I do very much enjoy the franchise.

The producer J. J. Abrams was the brains behind three very original and successful television franchises (”Felicity”, “Alias”, “Lost”) and enlisted two longtime collaborators (Robert Orci and Alex Kurtzman) to write the screenplay. Both writers have worked with Abrams on “Alias” and other projects, including “Mission Impossible III” (2006). They also co-wrote “Transformers” (2007). I was largely sceptical of how these people would proceed with creating an 'all-new' Star Trek movie. In many of the more recent Star Trek movies you had writers/producers such as Rick Berman, Brannon Barga, Brent Spiner (Data) and Jonathon Frakes (Will Riker) who have had long roles throughout the modern Star Trek (TNG, DS9, VOY and in case of Barga and Berman ENT). No one of these current crew have that experience with those series on board although this current movie successfully, I believe, portrayed the Star Trek history, pre-TOS very well.

The film left scope for the franchise to continue with an alternate timeline. Whether that will be a good thing, who knows? That is largely a subject of debate I think amongst trekkies if there is a sequel to the current movie. There is talk of this sequel for 2011, though is TBC. I imagine with that in mind it will follow the same cast. I believe most of the entire cast are already signed on to do at least two more sequels. I do wonder myself whether an alternate timeline, yet a simple idea is something largely to blanket the much written history of the franchise and effectively start from scratch. The actors did very much give the persona to the original series characterisations of the classic cast. I think Abrams & co. have also done a very good job in producing the original series for a more modern screening and that this lives up to being perhaps the one of the greatest Star Trek movies of all time. So-called Trekkies and people unfamiliar with the whole Star Trek world will find something to love in this film. Where Abrams & co. will go after this, who knows? I know that which ever direction it takes, as long as it continues I'll be very pleased it has continues. It will never change my love for the franchise.

Star Trek has had a great long history and for it to continue still I think is a great achievement. I think for a 40 year franchise there are bound to be changes to meet a demand for a different audience and different expectations. TOS, by today's standards is very ill-equipped technologically, as shows were then. The first two series were on a tight budget, as were shows like Doctor Who in the 1960s. There have been radical advances in technology over the years and times have changed. For this show, its ideals and characterisations to continue on I think is a great thing. I think many people who aren't so familiar with the franchise don't see these principles of the show which I think are an important part of Star Trek. I think from many of these we need to still learn from in our world and it could be a better place with its ideals. It is my view that it will be fantastic to open up this franchise to a new generation and share these with the world.

World Exclusive: Klingons review Star Trek - http://www.lovefilm.com/features/detail.html?editorial_id=11929&cid=lftwitter

Star Trek XII: Charting An Unpredictable Future - http://www.trektoday.com/content/2009/05/star-trek-xii-charting-an-unpredictable-future.html

'Star Trek' sequel on track - http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118001885.html?categoryid=1236&cs=1

Memory Alpha: Ask J.J. Abrams/Answers - http://memory-alpha.org/en/wiki/Memory_Alpha:Ask_J.J._Abrams/Answers

The International Conference of Young Astronomers in September!

2009-05-11T08:18:00.001+01:00

The International Conference of Young Astronomers (ICYA) is a scientific meeting of undergraduate, graduate, and PhD students of astronomy and physics as well as more advanced astronomers. We, as young scientists, feel a big need to contribute our share to this year’s International Year of Astronomy 2009 and use this opportunity to establish global, annual conference for all scientists, researchers and advanced amateur astronomers who could meet in future and work together in projects which will develop modern astronomy.

For this reason we aim to arrange an international conference to broaden our minds and to discuss challenging issues of astronomy. Furthermore, and most important, the meeting gives a chance to get in touch with other young scientists, with whom we might cooperate in the future.

Our goal is to establish ICYA as a regular conference, held once a year in different countries, connecting young astronomers from all over the world. Let's make it happen!

This year ICYA is organised by the Polish Astronomical Society in collaboration with Polish universities (Jagiellonian University of Cracow, University of Warsaw, Adam Mickiewicz University of Poznań, Nicolaus Copernicus University of Toruń, University of Zielona Góra, University of Szczecin and Nicolaus Copernicus Astronomical Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences) and hopefully will be supported by foreign universities and astronomical societies as well as international astronomical organizations.

The conference will take place in Cracow, Poland, September 7 – 13.

Source:http://www.icya2009.org

25 Random Things

2009-02-03T23:35:00.002Z

I don't normally do these things but what the hey! (In no particular order...)

I've noticed this note go round the world of Facebook, so I was wondering when I'd end up getting tagged. I've now been tagged a few times but I'm not tagging 25 people though. If you want to do it, go ahead. I'm only tagging those who tagged me. I'll add tags to people as people tag me in theirs.

Rules: Once you?ve been tagged, you are supposed to write a note with 25 random things, facts, habits, or goals about you. At the end, choose 25 people to be tagged. You have to tag the person who tagged you. If I tagged you, it?s because you're one of the first 25 people that popped into my head.

1. I moan at the world a lot, just don't ever take anything about it personal.

2. The reason I'm a vegetarian is because the concept of eating meat is just gross to me and my personal belief is I think it is quite immoral.

3. I like to keep all my clocks and watches in sync with the talking clock. No one can ever argue with you if they consider you late ;-)! (Also it can be useful for astronomy)

4. I get very addicted to coffee and tea.

5. One of my greatest goals in life is to set foot on another planet (or moon).

6. I hate celebrity. If I pick up a paper I don't want to read about trashy celebrities. I want to read a paper for the news. Hence why I loath the Sun, Star and Daily Mirror (UK newspapers). I probably seem quite boring for that.

7. I hate mass commercialism. E.g. Christmas can no longer be enjoyed for Christmas. I'm quite a traditionalist and 'old-fashioned' for those things.

8. I love getting hand written letters. I think that's meant more personal and meaningful.

9. I can spend ages just staring at the night sky. I just have to be careful of lamp posts ;-).

10. I'm never afraid going up but am almost always terrified when I have to climb back down.

11. I love most forms of music, including Heavy Metal, Trance, Indie, Classical, Jazz. I'm not as much a fan of RnB.

12. I can speak small bits of Welsh, Portuguese, Russian, Italian. I'd like to be able to speak every language.

13. I hate shopping at supermarkets. With my luck they always tend to close off certain checkouts as they get busy.

14. I love the little things that make the world seem a better place (might seem a little soft, I know).

15. I would love to explore and travel the world ALL MY LIFE if it were possible. I want a Tardis!

16. I like to collect foreign coins.

17. I have two left feet.

18. I have a poor sense of balance and often fall over on rough/uneven surfaces.

19. Anomalies bug me. I'm quite obsessive-compulsive for that.

20. I much prefer wine over beer and lager but beer and lager is cheaper and I'm a student.

21. I'm not fond of hot weather. I much prefer the cold. You can wrap up if you're cold, but not if you're hot.

22. I don't like to take medication unless it is absolutely necessary.

23. I find almost everything extremely interesting. I am naturally curious. Since I'm not a cat, that's not dangerous!

24. I'm rather anal about detail. If someone gets something remotely wrong, I'm often very quick off the mark to point it out.

25. I've realised more and more, perhaps I have a bit of a take on the world similar to Dr. Gregory House, though I'd never want to be as sarcastic.

Press release - Undergraduate mixes with astronomy luminaries

2009-01-29T16:46:00.001Z

A press release I wrote about the IYA opening ceremony for the University of Leicester e-Bulletin.

http://www2.le.ac.uk/ebulletin/news/out-and-about/2000-2009/2009/01/nparticle.2009-01-29.8515192240

A slightly longer day-to-day blog of the IYA opening ceremony

2009-01-29T11:46:00.001Z

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) launched 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) under the theme, The Universe, Yours to Discover. I was selected by the Royal Astronomical Society to be the UK Student Representative for the Opening Ceremony, held in Paris at UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). The opening ceremony launched the year with definite style.

I provide here a more detailed, day-to-day account of my time in Paris, the event and receptions alongside it in addition to the press release of University of Leicester e-bulletin (29th January 2009)...

Wednesday 14th January

I get up early with the excitement that it wont be long until I have to leave to start making my way for the 08:18am train from Leicester to London St. Pancras. I arrive at St. Pancras for the 10:23 Eurostar train to Paris, Gare du Nord. This is the first time I have ever been on the Eurostar, so a new experience for me. To me it seemed surprisingly easy to check in then just sit around in the waiting room (not for too long) and then get on the Eurostar. The Eurostar seemed looooong, though I guess no different to the popular high speed London services. I went to find my seat, put luggage down as you do and soon I was on my way. Announcements, I guess as you would expect were in both French and English. Luckily I still understand enough French from school to figure out what was being said, before the English was said. It was like hearing it twice - somewhat amusing but self-satisfying to think, wow I understood it. Now for the journey...

Eurostar just seemed like any other train journey and was reasonably comfortable, except the only difference of course is you are crossing the Channel for which I didn't know what to expect. I was shocked that it only took around 30 minutes to cross Dover to Calais and you could barely tell any difference. I just sat back reading my copy of the Daily Mail and listened to my MP3 player with my cup of coffee, probably a combination of 3 of my favourite things I like to do, especially when I travel. I could tell the moment I was in France when my phone alerted me to change local time. Soon I arrived in Paris at Gare du Nord. The IYA Opening Ceremony awaits me. I'm actually here in Paris and this is all happening! Now I had to find my way across the Paris Metro and find my hostel.

Luckily I had mapped out the route I needed to take before the event, so it wasn't too bad. It was strange to hear everything in French, see everything in French, having just only come off a train. When you go on holiday and you have flown I think you have more of a realisation that you're in a foreign country. To think I have been on a short journey, by train, across the channel I don't think it set in at first. I've been to France and Paris before but I guess this was quite different. Finding my way across the Metro was easy enough. Luckily I didn't have to get change and get metro tickets, which was a huge problem during my first visit to Paris. I just found the Metro part of the station, hopped on as you do and almost got there, except...we had to get off at Place de Clichy. I wasn't too sure why, though it seemed there were cancellations with the route (later I found out due to some strikes) and I understood we had to get on the replacement buses to other stations. So I found my way toward the relevant bus and got on - a big squeeze!

Finally I got off my stop, Mairie de Clichy and now for finding the hostel. I remembered I needed to look for signs saying "auberge de jeunesse". I knew I was on the right road at least. It seemed it wasn't far. Finally I was at a Youth Hostel, although was it the right one? I had forgotten its name. I was in luck though and I was there, finally. I couldn't see many other people and I suppose I was early. My room was empty. I dumped my luggage and crashed for a short while. I later explored the hostel, but mainly around the hostel. People soon also arrived. Some people had travelled so far, from all four 'corners' of the Earth and it seems, unsurprisingly were asleep. Later some of us met and we went to a local Pizzeria, and now for remembering how to order in French, errr...."Je voudrais (in bad French accent).."

I asked for orange juice, 'Jus d'orange' though I got given an Orangina. Prices, as you expect were expensive - that's Paris, but 3 Euros!!! Oh well. We had a good time. We weren't too sure what to expect in terms of sizes of Pizza. I was at least used to inches, though it was interesting to hear of these little differences from my new friends from around the world. Afterwards we had a walk around the hostel, near this Pizzeria - cold, but good to speak to everyone. We decided to retreat back to the hostel. Some of us went straight to bed, for our early start. I wasn't sure if I had met my room mates yet and I was exhausted myself. It seems I was sharing with two Serbian guys, Andre and Boba (Slobodan). I decided to hit the shower in case of the worst case scenario that I couldn't get one due to a large queue in the morning, and after a long day. I then spoke for a short while with my room mates, but soon went to sleep. A long and exciting day ahead.

Thursday 15th January

So, the day had come. None of us were too sure what to expect. I'd gotten up at 06:30am (so 05:30am in the UK) to give time for breakfast and getting ready. I wasn't sure how formal people were going. I'd brought my suit just in case, which I wore. I took my tie just in case, but I was fine. We needed to get to UNESCO for 08:00am ideally, but 08:30 at the latest for a 09:00am start. We were told to expect queues for checking in. It was very much like airport security, I guess as you expect being a government building. It wasn't too bad though, we had to queue a while to get our passes, but we were here. It was quite an honour, thinking I was among so many people from around the world involved in astronomy, especially Nobel Prize winners. I had read that representatives were present from over 100 countries, as well as other students like myself that were specially selected to attend. Nobel prize winners including Robert Wilson, as well as other top scientists of the world were present - such a prestigious honour to be selected to be alongside. There was planned a live video conference with the European Very Large Telescope in Chile, to hear from researchers there at the cutting-edge of science. A great day ahead to look forward to!

8.55am and we are all called to be making our way in the main room for the 9am start. It kicked off a little later than planned but soon it was underway. The ceremony started with an inauguation by ministers and other important personalities, including the IAU president, Catherine Cesarsky. An opening was given by the UNESCO director general and the IAU president highlighted the IYA visions and goals and the importance of this year for being the International Year of Astronomy.

The coffee break was said to be cut short due to the late start, although this was seemingly ignored and all events became slightly late throughout the day. It was good to get some of the formalities out of the way with the opener I found, as much as it was enjoyable, and get more into hearing the talks from the main scientists. First we were treated to talks on Astronomy and Culture and then from Galileo (400 years) to Apollo (40 years) - all really good. I personally looked forward to hearing the later talks, after lunch by Nobel Prize winner Robert Wilson and Lord Martin Rees. These were truly spectacular and I very much enjoyed these. Kevin Govender (from South Africa) gave a brilliant and touching talk about Astronomy for Humankind.

As well as many great talks, we had a reception on later that evening at the Palais de la Découverte. A video clip was presented of 'Around the World, Around the Sky' by Robert Pansard-Besson and a film of the Adler Planetarium presented by José-Fransisco Salgado with the music 'The Planets' by Gustav Holst.

After the reception many of us walked (a lot!) by Champs-Elysees towards L'Arc de Triomphe and around those parts of Paris.

A spectacular first day of events! Wow, technically half way through now though.

Friday 16th January

The following day started much the same as the first with breakfast then straight off to UNESCO on the Metro link, although less rushed as the first due to a slightly later start. The day at the conference started with a fascinating live video-conference with the European Very Large Telescope in Paranal and observers in Chile. Joceyln Bell-Burnell particularly I felt gave an excellent talk later on pulsars with an amazing demonstration that captivated the audience. Amongst other great talks, David Southwood from ESA also told us of the "Cosmic Vision" of ESA.

Yesterday's events were spectacular, though I much preferred this second day of talks in particular (not only for the earlier start but) due to the range of activities that were given. The evening provided a spectacular entertainment of the 'Sun Rings' performance by the Kronos Quartet with the participation of the UNESCO choir, providing great imagery of the sky.

This day seemed to largely fly by. It was a shame once it was all over, but it was great to have been part of such a prestigious occasion.

The ultimate message from the ceremony and receptions, following from the theme is that 'the sky belongs to everybody'. No matter where you are from, whatever your background, it is there to inspire. 'Astronomy is one of the oldest fundamental sciences, yet continues to make a profound impact on our culture and is a powerful expression of the human intellect. This is the year in which we can all make a difference,' - a message from the IAU President, Catherine Cesarsky.

Saturday 17th January

On the Saturday we were given the great opportunity to visit L'Observatoire de Paris, the Paris Observatory. The rest of the time we were given to explore Paris in its magnificence. Paris of course wouldn't be complete without a visit to the Eiffel Tower, for one, which we were very close to for the conference. We also visited the museum Le Louvre, Notre Dame, Les Invalides and L'Arc de Triomphe as well as much, much more. This day was fun-packed, touring Paris throughout all the day 'til around 8pm.

Night time was interesting. Our group arrived slightly later into the evening and later we got a few drinks and decided to make a good (what would be most people's final) night of it. Someone had brought a Twister board and we had a lot of fun - interesting but compromising positions, funny poses, an absolutely fantastic time! Some people said their goodbyes as they would be leaving early in the morning. It was a shame we didn't get to spend time in Paris a bit longer. It got to 4am and most of us were getting really tired. Most of us I think felt it was worth staying up late to make the most of the rest of our time together. Finally though most of us just had to retire to bed. I, at least, wanted to try and get up fairly early to maybe tour Paris a little bit more, in particular visit the Louvre.

Sunday 17th January

It was sad, but this would be my final day in Paris and I would be ready to make my own way home. I wasn't sure if I would have time to visit some of those sites briefly before I had to get to Gare du Nord for around mid-day. That wasn't going to happen! For one, there were people I still wanted to say goodbye to but unsurprisingly I got up a little bit later than intended. My Serbian room mates were heading off slightly early, back home and I decided to get up then as well. Breakfast was long as we all congregated, exchanging photos, particularly with Alex (from Romania) who said he plans to put them all together in one HUGE album. We mostly said our final goodbyes, exchanging some of our details. Then at 11.15am I decided to make my way to Gare du Nord for my journey home. And there we go. An amazing few days, with so many great people, meeting so many different people from all around the world, and exchanging our ideas, our interest about astronomy.

Attending this spectacular event and particularly meeting others from around the world has truly given me an even greater passion to travel. Meeting people from so many different countries enabled us to share our cultures, experiences and idealisms which rarely one would experience, as well as our passion for astronomy. It was a great chance to see what other students are doing around the globe and how they make an impact on astronomy; to share our knowledge and our ambition, then to go home with new ideas for how we can get even more involved in the subject and make an impact in the subject in our home country. For me, it has fuelled a desire to further share my passion and enthusiasm with the general public and to promote the subject more widely. By working together we can make this International Year of Astronomy a success!

IYA 2009 Opening Event, 15-16 January 2009 - UNESCO, Paris, France.

2009-01-22T20:22:00.002Z

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) launched 2009 as the International Year of Astronomy 2009 (IYA2009) under the theme, The Universe, Yours to Discover. I was selected by the Royal Astronomical Society to be the UK Student Representative for the Opening Ceremony, held in Paris at UNESCO (the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation). (University of Leicester Press Office - "Out and About", 09 January 2008). The opening ceremony launched the year with definite style.

Representatives were present from over 100 countries, as well as other students like myself that were specially selected to attend. Nobel prize winners including Robert Wilson, as well as other top scientists of the world were present - such a prestigious honour to be selected to be alongside. There was even a live video conference with the European Very Large Telescope in Chile, to hear from researchers there at the cutting-edge of science.

As well as many great talks, we had a reception on the first evening at the Palais de la Découverte. A video clip was presented of "Around the World, Around the Sky" by Robert Pansard-Besson and a film of the Adler Planetarium presented by José-Fransisco Salgado with the music "The Planets" by Gustav Holst. The following evening provided a spectacular entertainment of the "Sun Rings" performance by the Kronos Quartet with the participation of the UNESCO choir, providing great imagery of the sky. The ultimate message from the ceremony and receptions, following from the theme is that "the sky belongs to everybody". No matter where you are from, whatever your background, it is there to inspire. "Astronomy is one of the oldest fundamental sciences, yet continues to make a profound impact on our culture and is a powerful expression of the human intellect. This is the year in which we can all make a difference," - a message from the IAU President, Catherine Cesarsky.

Attending this spectacular event and particularly meeting others from around the world has truly given me an even greater passion to travel. Meeting people from so many different countries enabled us to share our cultures, experiences and idealisms which rarely one would experience, as well as our passion for astronomy. It was a great chance to see what other students are doing around the globe and how they make an impact to astronomy; to share our knowledge and our ambition, then to go home with new ideas for how we can get even more involved in the subject and make an impact in the subject in our home country. For me, it has fuelled me to further share my passion and enthusiasm with the general public and to promote the subject more widely. By working together we can make this International Year of Astronomy a success!

For more information about IYA2009 please visit: http://www.astronomy2009.org/

Videos of the event can be seen at: http/www.canalc2.tv/video.asp?idEvenement=451

Picture courtesy IYA2009 from http://ama09.obspm.fr/ama09/open.php

Press release -

2009-01-10T16:10:00.001Z

I've recently been posted on a press release by the University of Leicester on my selection as the "only UK student representative at launch of International Year of Astronomy". A link can be seen here.

I couldn't quite believe it when I heard. I can't wait!

Ok, it's been a while....

2009-01-09T15:50:00.001Z

I know it's been a while. I just find it so hard to keep track of updating the blog. A lot of interesting stuff is happening this month though and I intend to post quite a few blogs here and updating the website, so please keep a look out .

I have been selected by the Royal Astronomical Society to represent the UK for the opening ceremony of the IYA in Paris, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation).. A press release from the RAS can be seen here. A live webcast of the ceremony will be available through this link from 15th January 2009. During my visit I intend to take lots of pictures, not only of the event, but also Paris itself!

I also have my driving test coming up shortly, so fingers crossed.

Christmas is over and wow didn't it fly by? I had a pretty quiet Christmas myself, which was good - nice and relaxing. I met up with a few friends, as you do. A lot of people back home seem to have jobs now or at least have graduated if they went to university and I have lost touch with a lot of people now. I went back to Leicester for New Year celebrations which were enjoyable - a friend's flat party. We seemed to have had a great time. As the New Year starts, we move on and back into studies. Luckily I don't have exams this Christmas but my projects are ongoing. They seem to be coming on well I think. Next month my final year projects are coming to a close. I'll post my work on my research page, so please keep a look out for that.

It wont be long until I graduate now. I'm quite looking forward to getting to the milestone and having a degree. I know I just need to continue on and work hard to make sure I make it a good one. I'm applying for PhDs at the moment, so I'm hoping for a minimum of a high 2.1, but a first would be great.

Anyway, enough of the rant. I hope you enjoy these new webpages and the updates. Please let us know what you think.

Happy surfing.

Ryan ^_^

Doesn't time fly?!

2008-08-12T20:30:00.001+01:00

Hi everyone! I'm not much of a blogger as you may have gathered with few blog entries.

A lot has happened in the last 7 months or so. Things have been rather busy - having exams, studying, doing various projects, organising events for AstroSoc and now I am working over the summer - it seems never ending, oh well.

Exams went pretty well. A lot condensed into a short space of time - 13 in total in about 2 weeks! It seems I am averaging a first luckily, though I know I need to put in a lot of work if I am to secure it. I'm hoping this takes me forward to a PhD - it won't be long until I apply. It's literally counting down the months now (arghhh!)

AstroSoc hosted a number of meetings and became increasingly successful toward the end. We had speakers Dr. Ann Bonell, Leicester AS and Paul Money FRAS FBIS which had reasonable turnout. A key problem to address was keeping a regular society meeting, but having quality over quantity. It was felt that there weren't enough meetings in previous years t have members turn up to trips. Perhaps this year there were too many meetings meaning it was difficult to be greatly prepared at times. We had key speakers which worked well, but having a good enough mix and balance is probably a key to a better success of the society. The Physics Ball was a huge success with over 100 people, including live bands and music.

AstroSoc has now officially merged to become part of LeSEDS as a division, 'LeSEDS Astronomers' like the existing 'LeSEDS Rocketeers'. It was decided at the AGM on 14/05/2007 to do this in order to increase efficiency, hold larger socials, hold wider range of activities in both astronomy and space and hopefully provide the society with greater funding opportunities. I have now passed the position of 'President' of the society to a 'Chief Astronomer', in the capable hands of Adam Poundall, an enthusiastic 1st year Astrophysicist and amateur astronomer. The President of the society as a whole is now James Hutchinson, with a new position of Vice-President, John Burton.

On the amateur astronomy side I haven't managed to do much observing unfortunately. Time has been something hard to come by with studying, exams, projects and now working. Living closer to the city means it is more difficult also, to observe even with the unaided eye. Recently though I managed to capture a glimpse of the Perseid meteor shower with my girlfriend, camping out in her back garden.

I'm now here in Leicester, doing research at the university again - this time analysing calibration data for an instrument called GERB, a Geostationary Earth Radiation Budget instrument that will fly on board a MSG (Meteosat Second Generation) satellite. See more on my research page. A lot of the students have gone, so it's a little bit quieter. I'm keeping busy though, with a few friends as well as my girlfriend still about, so it's not all work luckily. The project seems to be going well thankfully and I seem to be getting some good results out of the data.

It won't be long and I'll be packing up, going lots of different places and pit stopping Leicester every now and then, and until I can finally relax for a bit of the summer. It'll be nice to have a good break after working lots. I'll be going to Mallorca in September with my girlfriend, so we're looking forward to that!

This Friday is our 1 year anniversary together and still going strong! I can't quite believe it myself. We plan to go out for lunch, then have picnic on the park with champagne - hopefully the weather will be nice and sunny. In the evening we should be going out. The year really has flown by so quickly, though a lot has happened.

Come the end of September and we'll be at university. I'll be in my fourth and final year - a lot of work to do and my degree will be coming to an end (arghh!) I'll be applying for PhDs and jobs.

Above everything else I really want to do a PhD. I know in myself I must work hard if I am to get through any competition. I love researching science and being at the forefront, learning and exploring new areas of science. Fingers crossed!

Save Astronomy

2008-01-06T00:40:00.001Z

You may be alarmed to hear that the future of research into astronomy here in the UK is under threat owing to recent announcements by the government. In particular the Science & Technology Facilities Council, the research council that funds astronomy research in the UK, has undergone dramatic developments.

"The reasons for the cuts aren?t officially clear. There are several factors at work, but among them is the need to bear the costs for new facilities being provided at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (RAL), in particular the Diamond Light source. Previously this would have had nothing to do with the astronomy budget, but everything changed with the creation of STFC this year. Astronomy is now being hit. World class telescopes and facilities are facing closure. University physics departments will suffer huge cuts."

Please consider signing the petition to the Prime Minister to reverse the decision to cut vital UK contributions to Particle Physics and Astronomy at petitions.pm.gov.uk/Physics-Funding.

Welcome to my site!

2008-01-03T23:23:00.000Z

Hi everyone and welcome to my site!